A survey carried out for Waitrose has found that the average person in the UK bins around £400-worth of perishables per year, while more than half of those polled (56%) admitted to throwing away bread every week.
Other perishables frequently thrown away each week were bananas (32%); bagged salads (30%); cold meats (18%); and milk (17%)
Those living in Brighton were found to be the worst offenders when it came to binning uneaten food on a daily basis, with 16.67% admitting to it, compared to 12.87% of those living in London. The survey, taken this month by Onepoll, revealed that Chelmsford in Essex was best, with only 2% of its residents throwing away food daily. Over 14% of Oxford’s residents bin food each day, compared to 13% in Wrexham, 6.94% in Cambridge, and 5.36% in Norwich.
Despite the high percentage of food wastage, the survey found that over 60% of Brits take leftovers to work for lunch the next day, and over 92% reuse shopping bags. Over 73% of those questioned also said they felt guilty about throwing away gone-off food.
Waitrose announced the results of the survey to raise awareness of HRH The Prince of Wales’ new Start initiative to encourage Brits to live a more sustainable way of life.
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