Compass Group UK & Ireland is partnering with WRAP, a UK-based sustainability charity, to support its inaugural Food Waste Action Week (1st – 7th March). It will see organisations across the food and drink sector unite, to stop food going to waste and curb the contribution it makes towards climate change.
Compass Group UK & Ireland is dedicated to reducing food waste and was an early signatory of the WRAP Courtauld 2025, a 10-year voluntary agreement bringing together organisations from across the food supply chain, working towards collective targets for reducing food waste, cutting carbon and protecting critical water resources. In 2019, Compass signed up to the government’s Step Up to the Plate pledge to help halve food waste by 2030 and to adopt the UK’s Food Waste Reduction Roadmap.
To support its mission to reduce food waste, Compass has a three-pronged approach:
- Prevent food going unsold or uneaten.
- Recover surplus food to help feed people in need.
- Recycle food waste.
Compass Group also runs its own awareness day, Stop Food Waste Day, which will take place on 28th April, this year.
Celena Fernandez, Head of Environment at Compass Group UK & Ireland, commented: “As the UK and Ireland’s largest food and support services provider, we have both a responsibility and an opportunity to make a real difference in the fight against food waste and reduce our impact on the planet. It’s important we support other organisations like WRAP, to help our industry and people at home. We can all make a huge difference by making small changes to reduce food waste.”
Food Waste Action Week aims to ask the public to take part in a simple challenge - to try to reduce their own household food waste to as close to zero as possible.
Marcus Gover, CEO of WRAP, said: “Wasting food is a major cause of climate change – it generates more greenhouse gas emissions than all the commercial flights in the world. We know through our research that the climate change emergency matters to people so this is something we can – and must – act on together. It is time to focus on saving one of our most precious resources instead of generating greenhouse gases producing food that is never eaten.
“I’m delighted to be launching the first UK Food Waste Action Week today and to be able to support our partners in the hospitality industry at this difficult time. Together we will inspire real and lasting change. Food Waste Action Week gives organisations a unique opportunity to capture their audiences’ attention as part of a national event and help them to play their part in eliminating food being wasted and tackling climate change. We look forward to working with Compass on this important initiative.”
