What a waste

NEARLY half of all the food we buy gets binned, even though a lot of it is still edible.

Experts say that our throwaway consumer culture and confusion over sell-by dates on food is to blame as well as special offers that encourage people to buy more than they need.

Food waste expert Emma Marsh said, “Our research has shown that 7.2million tons of food and drink waste is generated by households in the UK each year. Of this, 4.4million tons is avoidable food waste. This avoidable food waste has a value of £12billion (€15billion) per year.”

Globally, around half of all food produced, two billion tons worth, goes to waste.