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Food Waste
Climate Impact:
What you can do
Minimise your food waste.
Buy what you need and responsibly dispose of anything you can't eat.
Who's doing it?
0 people
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Climate impact
Reducing food waste can prevent the equivalent of 0.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year. This is the equivalent of 20 trees (see impact calculations).
Food that goes to landfill rots and releases methane, a greenhouse gas that's far more potent than carbon dioxide. Food that goes to compost releases far less methane.
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Additional benefits
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Responsible food shopping saves money
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Reduced global food demand
Challenges
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None
Resources
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None (yet)
Tips
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Use a food waste bin or compost for any food you don't eat to reduce emissions
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Plan meals in advance
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Freeze your leftovers
Facts and further information
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Around a third of the food produced for human consumption (1.3 billion tonnes) is wasted each year [1].
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Why does it matter if food waste goes to landfill or compost? The answer is that food decaying in landfill releases lots of methane - a greenhouse gas that's 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide. When food decays in compost it decomposes aerobically and instead produces carbon dioxide - a far less powerful greenhouse gas [2].
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Impact assessment
Households across the UK waste approximately 4.5 million tonnes of edible food a year and accounts for around 25 million tonnes of CO2e [3].
This equates to an average of around 0.4 tn. CO2e per person (25m/66.5m)
We have assumed a 75% reduction in food waste by people actively trying to reduce waste.
This is a emissions reduction of 0.3 tonnes CO2e per year