Discover how overproduction and capitalist values lead to massive food waste in the UK. Around 9.4 million tonnes of food are wasted annually due to overproduction and confusion over best-before dates, rivalling America’s waste levels. Meanwhile, millions face the choice between food and heating. Businesses actively shift these statistics with a ‘Sustainable End Chain’ in logistics.

WHAT IS A SUSTAINABLE END CHAIN?

A sustainable end chain is a cost effective and environmentally sound solution to business waste. If a company has a ‘written-off’ pallet or short-dated and past-best-before food, paying to dispose of it is socially and economically costly. All food sent to be incinerated contributes to the startling numbers of food waste and the emission of more harmful gases into the ozone layer. At NotJUST (International) we save the waste for free, and recycle it back into the community to help UK residents living in food insecurity. This has the added benefit of boosting a business’ ESG / CSR.

WHY IS A SUSTAINABLE END CHAIN SO IMPORTANT?

Let’s talk numbers. According to the Government’s published statistics for 2021/22, 7% of the UK population was living in food insecurity. A more recent survey conducted in June 2023 by The Food Foundation revealed that 17% of households were living in moderate to severe food insecurity. These numbers suggest that the number of people living in food insecurity is only set to increase.

Meanwhile, according to Waste Managed, food industries (including supermarkets, restaurants, hotels, and catering) are wasting approximately 1.19 million tonnes of food, with manufacturers wasting 1.52 million tonnes. Ask yourself: does this figure also take into consideration the ‘written-off’ food?

To top it off, around 6.6 million tonnes of food are wasted in UK households. Out of the total 9.5 million tonnes of food wasted in the UK, 50% could have been eaten. It may have simply had minor defects, a labelling discrepancy, or been past the best-before date. All these numbers and statistics indicate a major issue with wasted resources due to the infrastructure of the food sector and guidelines, millions of people living in food poverty, and millions of people throwing away food they could eat due to a lack of awareness around food quality and safety. Our project offers a solution to all of this.

WHAT OUR SUSTAINABLE END CHAIN DOES

With our sustainable end chain solution, we primarily work with food that is past its best-before date and surplus, working B2B to save it from landfill by the lorry-load for FREE. See our case studies here. We distribute it to our Community Fridges and Food Banks, share it with other organizations, sell it at our fundraising discount stores and cook it in our surplus café. We also work with short-dated and ‘written-off’ stock. More often than not, a ‘written-off’ pallet will simply have a broken leg or a few burst boxes. We fundraise and allocate time to sort through and save the food. We recycle resources straight back into the community to support tens of thousands of people and families. This simultaneously bridges the social gap and spares environmental costs.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT

Support our cause by advocating for sustainable end chains in business logistics. Your involvement can make a difference in combating food waste and strengthening communities. Reach out to discuss your solutions or donate to our cause. We cover the areas of Wellington, Slough, and Andover, and if you would like to discuss your own food waste solutions, please email hq@not-just.org.uk. If you would like to donate to our cause, please check out our donations page to see how you can help.