The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has launched a new £5m scheme which is designed to help UK food businesses redistribute surplus food and minimise their food waste outputs.
Under the scheme, food redistribution organisations in England are invited to bid for their share of the £5m fund.
Currently around 43,000 tonnes of surplus food is redistributed from retailers and food manufacturers every year. It is also estimated that a further 100,000 tonnes of food – equating to 250 million meals a year – is edible and readily available but goes uneaten. Instead, this food is currently sent away for generating energy from waste, anaerobic digestion, or animal feed.