Implementing a landfill ban on certain types of household waste could save the British economy £8.25 billion pounds per year, it has been claimed.
According to the Waste Resources and Action Programme (WRAP), households in the UK unnecessarily discard 8.3 billion tonnes of food every year, which equates to £12 billion.
In addition, other types of municipal waste such as paper, card and plastic could also be plucked from landfill allocation and recycled to make further savings.
Speaking at The Vitality Show, Emma Marsh, local communications manager for WRAP, outlined the importance at creating more waste handling and recycling facilities in a bid to reduce municipal waste.
She said that 20 million tonnes of carbon dioxide could be saved if Britain stopped wasting excess food and drink.
"Environmentally that’s the same impact as taking one in four cars off our road. Every time we send food into our bins, essentially it goes into landfill and it produces methane," she commented.
WRAP proposes that in order to realise the full benefits, the UK needs to increase prior sorting of materials, which could pave the way for new recycling facilities, boosting the bulk materials handling sector.
