Large food businesses and supermarkets must publish data on the amount of food waste they produce to end the “travesty” of binned produce, MPs say.
Households waste £14billion worth of food each year, statistics show.
Andrew Selous MP, a member of the Conservative Environment Network, said: “It is a travesty that we are using an area the size of Wales to produce food that is subsequently thrown away.
“Fortunately, the Government has taken significant steps to make sure the food we are throwing away is at least recycled.”
He added: “To kick off the new year, the Government should make it mandatory for large food businesses to publish their food waste data.”
“By increasing transparency, large food businesses will be more mindful of their food waste, but it will also inform potential business partners to help distribute surplus food, thereby reducing food waste.”
More than 13.4 million English households currently do not get their food waste picked up separately from their general waste.
Tory MP Caroline Ansell said: “We do not have a clear idea of how much food waste is being produced by food businesses, like supermarkets and manufacturers, unless they voluntarily make this data available.
“Mandating the reporting of this data for large food businesses would incentivise them to cut their food waste.”
Kitty Thompson, CEN’s senior nature programme manager, said: “Although we might be more conscious of overbuying food, large supermarkets are still overstocking.”
The Government has pledged to reduce food waste by 20% by 2025.
