{"id":1033,"date":"2026-05-26T14:08:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T14:08:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/?p=1033"},"modified":"2026-05-26T16:01:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T16:01:13","slug":"how-reducing-food-waste-can-support-households-with-the-cost-of-living","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/26\/how-reducing-food-waste-can-support-households-with-the-cost-of-living\/","title":{"rendered":"How reducing food waste can support households with the cost-of-living"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u00a0<\/div>\n

\"Food<\/h4>\n

Emma Leask, Zero Waste Scotland and member of CIWM Behaviour Change Specialist Expert Group, explores how reducing food waste can support households with the cost of living.<\/h4>\n

Food waste in Scotland is no small issue.\u00a0Tackling\u00a0the\u00a0problem\u00a0is not\u00a0just important\u00a0at an environmental level; it can also provide individual households with a\u00a0substantial\u00a0economic saving\u00a0of\u00a0nearly \u00a3500\u00a0per household<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The challenge is\u00a0how\u00a0to\u00a0create the right conditions for consumers\u00a0to adopt behaviours which support food waste reduction and\u00a0inspire action more easily.<\/p>\n

We know\u00a0different groups\u00a0of people also have\u00a0very different\u00a0drivers and challenges in relation to being able to reduce food waste, so\u00a0identifying\u00a0interventions that can be delivered across Scotland is something we are\u00a0determined\u00a0to achieve\u00a0as we strive towards delivering a circular economy.<\/p>\n

How do we change\u00a0unintentional behaviour?\u00a0<\/h2>\n

From overbuying products to poor meal planning\u00a0, improper storage,\u00a0and cooking and preparing too much, there is a lot to consider when\u00a0identifying\u00a0how we are wasting our food.<\/p>\n

Over time, behaviours relating to\u00a0purchasing\u00a0and consuming food can become ingrained habits\u00a0as\u00a0these\u00a0are\u00a0often unintentional\u00a0and\u00a0difficult to challenge.\u00a0What\u2019s\u00a0clear is that we need to work on a range of\u00a0activities\u00a0which will\u00a0make a sizeable difference for households.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Focusing on the behaviours that take place both in the home and during the food acquisition process will be important, and\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0crucial to support people to use their food effectively once it has been\u00a0purchased.<\/p>\n

This\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0a case of placing blame on consumers,\u00a0who\u00a0often have enough on their plate with\u00a0the\u00a0demands and pressures of day-to-day life taking priority. We want to highlight the opportunities\u00a0\u00a0available\u00a0to them that\u00a0will\u00a0provide economic benefit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As well as the cost savings,\u00a0we also know that increasing food-related skills could\u00a0have knock-on impacts in other areas like health and nutrition, as well as\u00a0stress reduction.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Zero Waste Scotland has\u00a0previously\u00a0explored why some people plan\u00a0their meals\u00a0and others\u00a0don\u2019t, highlighting barriers like time constraints, household influences, lack of skills, and\u00a0perceptions\u00a0that meal planning\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0enjoyable\u00a0or\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0fit\u00a0with their identity.<\/p>\n

Behavioural science\u00a0can help us understand and\u00a0tackle\u00a0these established\u00a0food waste habits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Household Intervention Plan for food waste reduction\u00a0\u00a0<\/h2>\n

As part of the Circular\u00a0Economy\u00a0Waste Route\u00a0Map, the Scottish Government\u00a0is developing\u00a0a\u00a0Household Intervention Plan for food waste reduction,\u00a0supported by Zero Waste Scotland.\u202f<\/p>\n

This plan\u00a0represents\u00a0Scotland\u2019s first comprehensive, evidence-based approach to tackling\u00a0household food waste.\u00a0Food waste has the highest impact of all household waste on\u00a0biodiversity loss and land use, and in Scotland alone,\u00a0\u00a31.3 billion-worth of food waste is thrown away from our homes every year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In fact, most food waste in Scotland comes from households, rather than businesses.\u00a0Our most recent estimate indicated<\/a> that a total of 1.038 million tonnes of food was disposed of in Scotland in 2021,\u00a0a slight increase from 2013, with 59% of the total being disposed of by households.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the focus of this plan\u00a0is to\u00a0outline targeted\u00a0interventions aimed at tackling household food waste and reducing it. The\u00a0objectives reflect both the scale of the challenge we face and\u00a0the Scottish Government\u2019s\u00a0commitment to delivering measurable, sustainable change.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0plan\u00a0will\u00a0be\u00a0supported by\u00a0a\u00a0wide range of industry\u00a0partners and\u00a0will\u00a0focus\u00a0on evidence-based interventions targeting key behaviours\u00a0and\u00a0leveraging\u00a0where most impact could be made.<\/p>\n

We know from our research that food waste often happens unintentionally,\u00a0and by targeting specific behaviours like meal planning,\u00a0portion\u00a0control\u00a0and\u00a0fridge organisation,\u00a0we can address the root causes rather than just the symptoms.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0often these behaviours are\u00a0shaped\u00a0by things outside of an\u00a0individual\u2019s\u00a0control,\u00a0from the availability of food to time constraints,\u00a0and\u00a0taking a wider lens to the problem and working with stakeholders\u00a0will be\u00a0vital in ensuring the plan\u2019s effectiveness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Our work with these key organisations will allow us to engage with feedback as it guides our longer-term work.\u00a0This means working with households themselves, local authorities, community groups, retailers, and other food system actors. Everyone has a role to play.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Measuring impact\u00a0<\/h2>\n

Understanding if the\u00a0Household Intervention Plan for food waste reduction\u00a0is making an impact is something we are considering early on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We know food waste reduction behaviour is\u00a0very difficult\u00a0to measure at a national scale cost-effectively.\u00a0Tracking measurable\u00a0changes\u00a0in the amount of\u00a0food wasted and the behavioural insights behind the changes will be needed over time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Monitoring\u00a0changes in what people are doing and responding to, and what they think is helping them reduce their food waste,\u00a0are just a couple of examples of how we will\u00a0assess\u00a0the impact of the work being done.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The challenge of ensuring this plan has a real impact will be how we inspire individuals to begin to make daily changes to their lives.<\/p>\n

We have the research which shows how they will benefit economically from making small changes to their food behaviours,\u00a0and with\u00a0the\u00a0Household Food Waste Intervention Plan,\u00a0the Scottish Government\u00a0will have the evidence, network and evaluation tools needed to start making fundamental changes to\u00a0Scotland\u2019s\u00a0food waste, for the better.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The economic savings\u00a0that will result from a reduction of food waste will be significant. And through the food waste intervention plan and behaviour change campaigning, we can see our insights generate a lasting impact on how we manage our food.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The post How reducing food waste can support households with the cost-of-living<\/a> appeared first on Circular Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 Emma Leask, Zero Waste Scotland and member of CIWM Behaviour Change Specialist Expert Group, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1033"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1033"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1034,"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1033\/revisions\/1034"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}