Food Waste

Householders in Scotland waste over £1 billion worth of food each year. That's an average of £430 per household per year or nearly £36 per week! Not only does food rotting in landfill sites create methane, a powerful climate change gas, the energy used to produce, chill, water and transport food is also wasted when you throw food away. If Scotland stopped wasting all this food, we could prevent the equivalent of 1.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. This is the same as taking one in four cars off the road.

The main reasons for Scots wasting food are; too much on the plate or in the pan, not using food before its use-by date, or it goes past its best in your cupboard or fridge. Simple changes like planning menus, using shopping lists, getting to grips with portioning and clever storage can all help.

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Kitchen Canny is a Changeworks project, funded by the Scottish Government, The City of Edinburgh Council and Scottish Borders Council, to help householders understand the food they waste and offer tips on how to reduce it. A free Kitchen Canny kit provides tools and ideas to try in your own home. Kits are available from locations across Edinburgh, the Lothians and the Scottish Borders. For details:

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Waste less and compost the rest. Most raw kitchen waste can be composted, although you should avoid meat, fish scraps and cooked waste unless you have a wormery (See WORMERIES) or food waste digester (See FOOD WASTE DIGESTERS).

You can build your own compost bin using an old plastic barrel, dustbin, scrap timber, pallets or old tyres, or Scottish Councils in partnership with WRAP are offering discounted compost bins to all residents of Scotland. See Composting.