West Sussex County Council is thrilled to support Love Food Hate Waste’s Food Waste Action Week, running from 17th – 23rd March 2025.

Food Waste Action Week is the flagship annual event delivered by WRAP’s Love Food Hate Waste campaign. It helps households develop the tools they need to reduce food waste at home. This year, Food Waste Action Week will continue to focus on raising awareness of the benefits of buying loose fruit and vegetables.

Around a third of the average rubbish bin in West Sussex is food waste—most of which is avoidable. In fact, 70% could have been eaten at some point prior to being thrown away. Of that, 41% is just not used in time and 25% is binned because too much has been cooked.

 West Sussex County Council is supporting this campaign with the aim of reducing the amount of edible food ending up in general waste at home. Wasted food costs an average of £20 per month per person, or £80 per month for a family of four.

Food Waste Action Week will help shoppers save money and reduce food waste by encouraging them to buy loose produce.

WRAP’s research has identified the potential to significantly reduce household food waste by removing the packaging on uncut fresh fruit and vegetables. This allows shoppers to buy only what they need, while also eliminating a significant amount of unnecessary packaging.

Recently, WRAP called for a packaging ban on 21 fruit and vegetable items, to be developed via a formal consultation process. This recommendation was made in collaboration with industry stakeholders across the supply chain. Selling these 21 items loose could save approximately 100,000 tonnes of edible fruit and vegetables from being wasted annually in households, as well as 13,000 tonnes of plastic film.

WRAP has highlighted that policy change is necessary to drive action across the entire UK food system. A standardized approach would create a level playing field, overcoming challenges faced by the industry and enabling people to buy uncut fruit and vegetables loose.

West Sussex Recycles will support the campaign and its “buy loose” message by hosting waste prevention stands at various events, as listed below:

At these events, the team will distribute waste prevention tools such as recipe booklets, digital scales, spaghetti measures, rice scoops, and more. Additionally, a compost bin raffle will be held at each library and UKHarvest Community Food Hub event, with residents invited to participate by engaging with the stand and answering team members’ questions.