WRAP has released a new report which shows for the first time the scale of milk wastes across the food chain, from processing to our homes, and highlights ways we can significantly reduce the £330,000 tonnes of total milk lost each year, worth more than £150 million.
According to WRAP, milk waste in the home is by far the largest contributor, accounting nearly 90% of UK milk waste with 290,000 tonnes thrown away every year.
Milk waste in the supply chain, through breakages and leaks during transportation and in retail outlets, represents 30,000 tonnes; with an additional 13,000 tonnes of waste identified during processing.
To reduce milk waste in our homes, WRAP suggests the following:
- Ensure fridge temperature is between 0-5°C
- Use temperature sensitive labels on the milk
- Wider use of WRAP’s Little Blue Fridge icon
- Freeze milk
- Increase the average ‘use by’ date on milk just by one day
In the supply chain, significant waste comes from processes such as separating cream from milk, which produces ‘separator desludge’. According to WRAP, this is a nutrient rich resource which could be used for food or animal feed applications rather than being thrown away.
WRAP will work with the sector through the Courtauld 2025 Dairy Working Group to help ensure the recommendations are implemented and plans to track improvements and innovations to pack design and labelling over time through its Retail Survey.