Sep 27th, 2023
3 mins
Food waste campaign group Feedback has launched legal proceedings against Defra over their decision not to impose mandatory food waste reporting.
Law firm Leigh Day said it had sent Defra a pre-action letter – the first step towards a judicial review, arguing that Defra’s decision was not based on a reasonable or rational view of the evidence and was actually unlawful.
Defra had previously said that a mandatory system would drive high costs but the campaign group stated that because measuring food waste improves data, this would in turn help businesses to spot opportunities to cut wastage.
It said the current voluntary approach, had saved 251,000 tonnes of food from going to waste since 2005, worth £365m but “This figure could only be improved if the measuring and reporting were mandatory,”
Leigh Day solicitor Ricardo Gama said: “The Government has decided to continue with a voluntary food waste reporting scheme even though all the expert advice said that voluntary measures aren’t working.
“All the evidence shows that the costs to the shopper of introducing a mandatory requirement will be massively outweighed by savings which would be achieved by reductions in food waste. Our clients say it is impossible to see how the Government’s decision can be based on a rational reading of the evidence.”
