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A meaningful difference
The Waste Equation reveals how food and drink manufacturers could reduce waste, recover what surplus remains and reinvest savings and other resources, to provide a billion meals a year to people in need. Developed by Newton, Felix, and IGD’s Alliance Food Sourcing (AFS), it acknowledges that the causes of food insecurity cannot be solved by increasing food supply. However, often simple changes could significantly help reduce food insecurity in communities, and encourage people to access further support addressing the root causes of poverty. The report shows the size of the opportunity – how many meals is there the potential to send to frontline charities if manufacturing food waste was reduced , unpreventable surplus was recovered and savings were reinvested into making new food? It then outlines how we can achieve this enduring change together. Every organisation can be involved – even those with no waste or surplus – by contributing expertise, fridge space, factory lines, logistics and beyond.
To recover this incredible amount of surplus, this report focuses on unlocking these three key areas, providing frameworks, advice and real-world examples to drive change. In line with UK government, WRAP and the Coronation Food Project recommendations, the first step to feeding more people sustainably is to reduce waste, then recover surplus that remains. The final additional step – reinvest – is a data-backed, evidence-based idea to use savings and donations with the greatest impact.
The report covers:
Part 1. Reduce
Part 2. Recover
Part 3. Reinvest
Data findings UK retailers sell 18.5 million tonnes of UK manufactured food and drink each year. In the process of creating that food, we have found around 550k tonnes is wasted – equivalent to 3% of sales . There is the potential to:
To help address food waste, six key types of food waste in UK manufacturing are identified, as well as their root causes, innovative tech-enabled solutions, and a five-step reduction model.
Based on Felix’s expertise and best practice examples, the report explains the straightforward process to recover food surplus that can’t be prevented.
For those with no waste or who want to offer greater support, the report outlines how to reinvest the food waste savings along with other resources, such as donations and team capacity.
Reduce
Reinvest
Recover
The research shaped Felix’s Policy Memo to the UK government asking it to incentivise and offset losses of revenue generated from sending surplus to animal feed and anaerobic digestion, and prevent surplus food from going to other lower value destinations like landfill.
Reduce waste by 23% (128k tonnes) through innovation, technology and industry expertise, saving £326 million for UK food manufacturing.
Recover 16% (89 tonnes) of
Reinvest the £326 million saving to help even more people by using the savings from reducing waste to manufacture additional food, generating 657 million meals to donate.
Existing pipeline of food recovered by Felix = 148 million meals.
surplus that can’t be prevented cost effectively, creating the equivalent of 212 million meals for frontline charities.
We all want a thriving, prosperous United Kingdom. And, more importantly, if food is available, there is a moral obligation for all of us to make sure it makes it to the table of families in need. If everybody gets involved in a meaningful way, we can genuinely make a step change in 2026.” Charlotte Hill OBE , CEO, Felix “
Altogether, we could provide one billion (1,017 million) meals to people who need them. That is seven times as much as Felix currently recovers each year as it helps the millions of adults and families in the UK facing food insecurity. = Over a billion meals 1,017 million meals
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