FDBusiness.com

Nearly a third of UK shoppers want food and grocery retailers and manufacturers to focus on reducing waste. IGD consumer research shows 29% of shoppers think reducing waste should be one of the main sustainability priorities for the industry.

The findings come as 33 leading food and grocery companies have announced they are voluntarily committing to prevent 75,000 tonnes of waste being created by the end of 2012. All signatories are IGD members and leading retailers, manufacturers, wholesalers and food service operators. They have signed up to the target to totally remove this volume of waste from their supply chains.

The industry has made great strides in recovering waste, rather than disposing of it. To drive this progress even further the companies have pledged to meet an extra target. They have challenged themselves to divert a further 150,000 tonnes of waste from disposal, mainly from landfill and sewerage, to more productive outputs such as anaerobic digestion.

Joanne Denney-Finch, chief executive of IGD.

“Food and grocery businesses are striving continually to reduce waste from their operations. This has resulted in the majority of the product and packaging waste from their supply chain being recycled or recovered, rather than disposed of,” says Joanne Denney-Finch, chief executive of IGD. “The industry is now strengthening further its emphasis on supply chain waste prevention. This includes not producing the waste in the first place or redistributing it to alternative markets and charities, such as Fareshare.”

IGD members which have signed up to the two waste targets include: Associated British Foods, Bakkavor, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Dairy Crest, Gerber Juice Company, H J Heinz, Kraft Foods, Mars Chocolate UK, Molson Coors Brewing, Muller Dairy (UK), Nestle UK, Northern Foods, PepsiCo UK & Ireland, Robert Wiseman Dairies, Unilever UK, United Biscuits, VION Food UK and Warburtons.