The UK appointed its first food waste chief on Monday to help drive a campaign to reduce the millions of tonnes of food thrown away every year by restaurants, supermarkets and manufacturers, Reuters reported.
Ben Elliot, the nephew of Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall and wife of heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, was appointed to the one-year voluntary role of Food Surplus and Waste Champion by Environment Secretary Michael Gove.
“There continues to be an unforgivable amount of food waste which is both morally deplorable and largely avoidable,” Elliot, co-founder of luxury lifestyle group Quintessentially and a philanthropic foundation that works with food charities, was quoted as saying.
“As a nation, we need to stop this excessive waste and ensure that surplus food finds its way to people in our society who need it most, and not let it get thrown away and go to landfill.”
Britain has among the lowest levels of food redistribution in Europe, Reuters said.
Major supermarkets, food manufacturers and restaurants in September backed a drive to halve Britain’s food waste by 2030 and save the nation US$13 billion a year.
Tesco, Nestle and Coca-Cola were among at least 70 leading companies to sign up to a government-backed plan to reduce the 10 million metric tons (MT) of fruit, vegetables and other foods that are binned every year.
In his new role, Elliot will work with food businesses across manufacturing, retail and hospitality to tackle waste “from farm to fork,” the government said, under a voluntary monitoring plan.
