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Guidance for Transport and Storage
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Why your Transport or Storage business needs to recycle

The benefits of reducing food waste in the Transport and Storage sector

Estimated reading time: 3 min

Reducing food waste can decrease general waste and save your organisation money. According to WRAP food waste was estimated at 10.7 million tonnes in the UK in 2021. This estimate covers waste from households, alongside industry sectors including hospitality and food service (HaFS), food manufacture, retail and the farming sector. 

Many transport hubs include retail outlets, concessions, hospitality and food service businesses, so food and drink waste is likely to make up a significant proportion of waste. 

Guardians of Grub gives food service businesses the knowledge and resources to set a reduction target, measure food loss and waste and take steps to reduce it. Read our case studies to learn how others have implemented changes to reduce their food and drink waste. Our quick-start Action List may also be useful.  

The Food Waste Reduction Roadmap is the leading free-access initiative for UK food businesses, developed by industry in collaboration with WRAP and the IGD. It provides guidance for specific sectors, such as food retail operations and the hospitality and food service sector, which may be useful to companies whose transport hubs include food outlets. 

Statutory Guidance will be useful if your business produces, handles, treats or disposes of surplus or waste food and drink. 

Food and drink material hierarchy 

Similar to the waste hierarchy, WRAP’s food and drink material hierarchy encourages you to prevent waste at source, with disposal as a last resort.  

A diagram detailing the food and drink waste hierarchy, demonstrating that waste prevention, redistribution of food to people, then animals should be favoured ahead of recycling food waste.

If you can’t prevent food and drink waste, the ideal next option would be to redistribute edible food to people first, and then for use in animal feed. If neither option is possible, aim to recycle or compost food waste. 

By following this hierarchy, you will be able to:  

  • Minimise the environmental impact of your organisation’s food and drink waste 

  • Maximise the value of food and drink surplus, such as by reselling or donating to charity 

  • Reduce associated waste, such as packaging from food goods and products 

Food redistribution 

Did you know? It’s safe to redistribute edible food, unless it’s past its use-by date!  

You’ll find all the information you need to help increase the amount of surplus food your concessions or organisation redistributes at WRAP’s Surplus Food Redistribution Resource Hub.