Reducing Food Waste – April 2026

Why do we need action on food waste?

In 2018 6.5 million tonnes of food was thrown away, of that 4.5 million tonnes, was edible and worth approximately £14 billion.

70% of this wasted food came from households and 25% of that was due to too much being prepared, cooked, and served. Unnecessary and avoidable food waste costs UK households approximately £3.5 billion each year, equal to £700 a year for an average UK family. This wasted food also makes up approximately 25 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.

How can I reduce my food waste?

There are some very easy steps you can follow to reduce how much food you throw away and help you save money

Meal planning

As well as helping you plan what food to buy and budget for it also allows you to make your food go further by planning in how to use leftovers. For example, using leftover meat or vegetables and carcass from a Sunday roast to make another meal during the week. Meal plans also allow you to consider what you already have that needs to be used up.

Easy Meal Plans is a useful resource to help you start meal planning.

Shopping lists

By creating a meal plan, shopping lists become a lot easier to make, use and budget for. If the prospect of having to keep a physical list seems too much, there are some great apps available which combine meal planning with shopping lists. You just need to check your cupboards to see what you already have in stock!

Storage

The best way to ensure your food lasts as long as it can is to make sure that you are storing it correctly. Forget the fruit bowl, most fruits last longer stored in the fridge, equally bread and sauces last longer when they are stored in a cold dry cupboard rather than a fridge. See foods you’ve been storing in the wrong place for more information.

Freezing

The cost-of-living crisis has seen more people relying on food that may already be close to an expiration date, such as yellow stickered foods. You can actually freeze most foods, including dairy, at any point up to its best before date. Freezing is a good way to store something you might not get around to eating rather than throwing it away.

Batch cooking

As well as food close to expiration date, batch cooking and freezing allows you to use larger packs of ingredients which can be more cost effective. By portioning and freezing you have easy meals available to you which won’t produce any further waste. Plus, if you are reheating using a microwave, you will also save energy!

Use it all

Whether it’s left overs or veg peelings you can make a big difference by using it all. For example, if you’re making a cauliflower cheese and don’t know what to do with the stalks and leaves, boil them up in a pan add seasoning or some cheese and blitz and you have a lovely soup. And you can freeze and use the rest another day. Leftovers can be frozen, used in lunch boxes or made into another meal altogether. There are lots of resources available to help you use it all, even the scraps. You can find all kinds of recipes for your leftovers at Love Food Hate Waste or get creative and try developing your own recipes.

What’s happening in Suffolk to help reduce food waste?

Community Fridges

Community fridges are public spaces where unused/sold food that would otherwise have been thrown away is shared within the local community. They are a great way to reduce food waste and bring communities together. Community fridges are open to everyone and there is no requirement to be in receipt of benefits to access them.

If you are interested in volunteering, donating or using your local Community Fridge you can find your local here.

Home Composting

Sometimes food waste is unavoidable, when this happens there is the option of home composting. It’s a great way to turn yourwaste into free compost for your garden. Suffolk residents can find a variety of subsidised compost bins and wormeries here.