2. Food waste: The big picture
1/3 of the world’s food is wasted
Producing, distributing, storing and cooking food uses energy, fuel and water
Each of these emits greenhouse gases contributing to climate change
Food waste sent to landfill gives off methane gas, many times more damaging than carbon dioxide
So what’s the problem?
1/ 3 is wasted: There is also of course the moral imperative: 815 million people in the world go hungry every day. What this means is that while 1/3 is wasted, globally, at the same time one in nine people in the world today are undernourished.
Under carbon: Food waste is the most carbon intensive waste material, accounting for only 5% of Scotland’s waste by weight, but 22% of the waste carbon impacts.

4. 1 million tonnes of food waste each year, 185 kg per capita, 61% from householder

5. Food facts in Scotland Did you know?
Almost 61% of all food waste in Scotland comes from households. We throw away nearly 600,000 tonnes of food and drink from our homes every year in Scotland, and more than half (60%) of this is food and drink we could have eaten.
Wasting this food costs the average household
£437 a year, the equivalent of around
£36 a month.
What is happening locally in Scotland..

6. Environmental impact
If we all stop wasting food that could have been eaten, the benefit to the planet would be the equivalent of taking almost 1 in 5 cars off the road.
If we could stop this avoidable food waste, preventing the associated carbon emissions would offer the same CO2 equivalent savings as taking 1 in 4 cars off Scotland’s roads.
4% of Scotland’s total water footprint: This is related to all the water associated with growing and rearing crops and animals for food.
Did you know?
The waste of good food and drink is associated with 4% of Scotland’s total water footprint.

10. What you can do right now
Love Food Hate Waste cascade training
- free workshops
- experienced trainers
- based on research
Retailers and major brands

11. Why is it wasted?
There are two main reasons why we throw away good food: we cook or prepare too much or we don’t use it in time.
The foods we waste the most are fresh vegetables and salad, drink, fresh fruit, and bakery items such as bread and cakes.
Did you know?
We throw away more food from our homes than packaging in Scotland every year.

12. To Freeze or not to Freeze?
Defrost straight from frozen by popping it in the toaster!
Cut into cubes, toss in olive oil, garlic & herbs then freeze on a tray and transfer into a bag when frozen. Shallow fry or bake in the oven for instant croutons!
Homemade breadcrumbs – whizz up in a food processor and freeze until needed.

13. How much to cook?
¼ cup dry rice
50 – 75g
1 cup dry pasta
75 – 100g

14. Lovely
Leftovers
Make a meal plan for the week using up these ingredients, with help from your store cupboard:

15. Good to Go zerowastescotland.org.uk/food-waste/good-to-go
To complement this – our education pack resource for the Curriculum of excellence, we are developing new science games, for use in schools and communities. Available in May.
9 lessons for primary schools (in groups of 3)
5 lessons for secondary (Maths, Science, Home Economics, English, RME)
Autopsy of food waste - the whole school lesson for the canteen
zerowastescotland.org.uk/food-waste/good-to-go

17. Business signatories

23. Improve monitoring and reporting
Establish a Food Waste Hub to deliver coordinated and collaborative action, access funding etc
Facilitate public sector leadership on food waste
Consult on food surplus obligations
Adress barriers to food waste re-use and recycling
Best practise guidance and support for the hospitality and catering sectors

25. Thank you Like us: facebook.com/lovefoodhatewastescotland
Visit us:
Contact us: