Iceland has revealed that it has reduced its food waste by nearly a quarter (23.2%) in the past two years, cutting the amount wasted by almost 2,500 tonnes.
The announcement comes twelve months after DEFRA’s Food Waste Champion Ben Elliot called on businesses to ‘step up to the plate’ and drive forward plans to cut food waste. Iceland has done this using the ‘target, measure, act’ approach set out in the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap launched in 2018 by WRAP and the IGD.
Furthermore, and in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal SDG 12.3, Iceland has committed to a 50% reduction of food waste across its operations by 2030.
As a next step, the retailer has now announced a national roll-out of a 100-store trial which sees surplus food given to store staff at closing time each day. Following a successful trial, the scheme will be rolled out over the coming months, offering staff in nearly 1,000 of its stores the option of taking food home or donating to a local charity or cause.
Iceland has already partnered with charity The Bread and Butter Thing and social enterprise Community Shop to donate the equivalent of nearly 375,000 meals in surplus food to some of the most deprived communites across the UK. It has also donated more than 60 freezers to foodbanks across the UK, enabling them to expand their support for those struggling to afford life’s essentials.
The retailer has also found innovative ways to use surplus food, such as sending unsold bread from its Welsh stores to Tiny Rebel Brewing Co. in Newport, to produce Bread Board Pale Ale.
Collectively, these initiatives have enabled Iceland to reduce its food waste by nearly 2,500 tonnes over the course of two years.
Richard Walker, Managing Director of Iceland, said: “Tackling food waste is high on our agenda as one of our many commitments to reduce our impact on the environment. We’ve worked with communities, colleagues and customers to make significant reductions and I am delighted that we have been able to make great strides in reducing our food waste footprint over the past two years.
“We’re continuing to innovate and find new ways to reduce the amount of food wasted across our operations, and our trial to give food to our colleagues is just one of the next steps we’ll be taking to build on our progress so far. I’m looking forward to seeing this in action across our stores and working with colleagues to take the next steps in our food waste reduction journey.”
