The environmental campaign group Feedback Global launched a legal challenge, backed by Law for Change, to a decision by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to stick with a voluntary system for food waste reporting.

The campaign group said the costs of a mandatory system would prove cheaper for shoppers and dramatically cut food waste which currently amounts to at least 9.5 million tonnes a year. More than two-thirds of that waste is edible, and 165,000 tonnes is suitable for redistribution.

The current voluntary approach to food waste reporting has collectively saved 251,000 tonnes of food from going to waste, worth £365 million, since 2005. This figure could only be improved if the measuring and reporting were mandatory, says Feedback.

Feedback wrote to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with a pre-action protocol letter, signalling the start of the judicial review process after DEFRA responded to a consultation on mandatory reporting of food waste with a decision to keep the process voluntary because of the anticipated high costs. Feedback then launched a legal challenge of that decision.

DEFRA responded in November 2023 to Feedback’s legal challenge, indicating that they would be changing tack and considering deploying a mandatory system after all. Feedback was represented in its legal challenge by law firm Leigh Day.

The legal case has ensured that mandatory food waste measurement remains on the table as a key policy for the government to adopt to reach climate targets. It may not sound like an urgent policy, but tackling food waste is key for addressing our emissions.