The UK’s new coalition Government supports Courtauld Commitment 2 and its aims to manage food and packaging waste, said the Environment Minister Lord Henley at a recent meeting of retailer and brand owner signatories.
The event in London was organised by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme), which manages the voluntary agreement on behalf of the UK Government.
Among the new signatories present were Burton Foods, Ferrero UK, Greencore, Heineken UK, Moy Park and Northern Ireland’s first representative, Dale Farm.
Courtauld Commitment 2 launched in March 2010 with 29 major retailers and brand owners. The roll call has since grown to 36, including Marks and Spencer (M&S).
Lord Henley said he was ‘delighted’ to see the new names joining what he called ‘a great example’ of Government and companies working together to find answers to reduce food waste and packaging.
Using 2009 data and working to a 2012 deadline, Courtauld Commitment 2 moves away from solely weight-based targets to focus on more sustainable use of resources over the entire lifecycle of products.
Liz Goodwin, WRAP’s CEO, said that to make changes from the point of production right through to the point of household impact, partnerships throughout the whole supply chain would become increasingly important.
The new targets require retail grocery packaging to reduce in weight; improve recycling rates; increase recycled content, as appropriate; and overall to reduce its carbon impact by 10%.
Supply chain product and packaging waste targets are to reduce grocery product and packaging waste by 5%, including solid and liquid waste
