Tesco’s attutide Celebrated by UN

Dave Lewis – chief executive of Tesco – is chair of the Champions 12.3 group which is working to meet SDG 12.3. This calls on all countries to halve their food waste at the retail and consumer levels, as well as reducing food loss during production and supply chains, by 2030.

Tesco has called for mandatory reporting of food waste by retailers and other food businesses

Speaking at a Champions 12.3 event in New York today, coinciding with the United Nations General Assembly and Climate Week NYC, Mr Lewis will say that the target will not be met if companies are unwilling to publish their data publicly.

“A lot of food companies have pledged to tackle food waste, but without transparency will not be able to judge if they are delivering on their commitment,” he said.

“Publishing food waste data is vital and must be mandatory if the UK is to achieve SDG 12.3 to halve food waste by 2030.”

He added: “The government has indicated it will introduce mandatory reporting and we call on them to do this urgently.”

Tesco was the first UK retailer to publish food waste data in 2013 (see letsrecycle.com story) – it has today released its seventh year of results, including figures for 27 own brand suppliers and 11 branded suppliers. Since 2018 Tesco has halved the amount of food safe for human consumption that it wastes, with food waste now representing 0.1% of food sales.