Liberal Democrats on Essex County Council today urged support for a campaign to encourage people to cut food waste and reduce the tonnes of food thrown away each year by Essex’s residents.

Most of the food is usable but instead of ending up on the dinner plate, it ends up in landfill sites.

Environmental campaign group Waste and Resource Action Programme (WRAP) revealed that the UK bins 6.7 million tonnes of food a year - 112kg per person.

Speaking about the campaign, Cllr Ian Gale, Liberal Democrats' spokesman for waste and recycling said, "It's quite incredible how much food we throw away. WRAP has found that nine out of ten people are currently not aware of the quantity of food they throw out but when it is brought to their attention, most want to do something about it.

There are some basic ways to avoid food waste which WRAP recommend people adopt. For example, work out what food you need and write a shopping list, rather than making choices when going around the supermarket. People can also make more use of their fridge, freezer or airtight boxes rather than leaving food out in the open where it goes off quicker.

We each have to play our part in protecting the environment. By avoiding wasting food, we can save money as well."

Rotting food in landfill sites produces methane which is a much stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Huge resources are also required to grow, ship and process food, all of which add to our carbon footprints.

Liberal Democrats are encouraging residents of Essex to visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.com for handy tips on saving money and avoiding waste.