Walmart Foundation funds cutting-edge food waste trials with WRAP

The Walmart Foundation has awarded nearly US$750,000 to WRAP, the UK’s leading sustainability charity delivering behaviour change interventions (BCIs), to develop new interventions to slash household food waste in the UK and Canada, in a partnership with the National Zero Waste Council in Canada.

The UK-Canada partnership will focus on high-impact food waste behaviours and designing new interventions using WRAP’s long track record in behaviour change. Research is underway in both countries, with BCI prototypes to be piloted between March 2022 and 2023.

Sarah Clayton, Head of Citizen Behaviour Change at WRAP, said “We are delighted to have the backing of the Walmart Foundation on this ground-breaking research, which will drive forward thinking on ways to subtly ‘nudge’ people towards positive behaviours that prevent food going to waste. Food waste is so often overlooked in relation to climate change, but more greenhouse gas is produced by food waste than by all international flights, so we ignore it at our peril. Having organisations like the Walmart Foundation onboard is crucial to deliver new work and generate new insights for the benefit of partners all around the world.”

"We have an opportunity to reduce the impacts of food waste on the environment with even the slightest behavior modifications,” said Eileen Hyde, Senior Director for Walmart.org. “Identifying these behaviors and applying interventions is a great step in the right direction to affect change. It will take all of us working together to address food waste, and we’re proud to support WRAP’s good work.”

Jack Froese, Chair, National Zero Waste Council, said “The National Zero Waste Council is pleased to collaborate with WRAP UK on this important research into the behaviours that lead to food waste at home and insights as to how habits that lead to food waste can be changed. Food waste is a common problem – more than 60% of the food Canadians throw away could have been eaten - but there may be nuances between our two countries that will help us to better understand and change our relationship with food.” 

In addition to developing new behavioural change interventions, key insights and recommendations that arise during the project will be shared with partners to help inform international policy and guide best practice recommendations for stakeholders throughout the supply chain, from retailers to the on-trade.

WRAP, which has more than twenty years’ experience of developing cross sector collaborations that reduce environmental impacts, is keen to speak with Trusts and Foundations about other projects it is developing. The organisation is also looking for partners to pilot interventions in the UK, and to speak with not-for-profit organisation/s.

The importance of reducing household food waste was brought clearly into global headlines in March 2020 with the publication of the Food Waste Index, produced by WRAP and UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme). This ground-breaking report reversed accepted thinking on food waste by showing for the first time that household food waste is similar in both lower-middle income and high-income countries, and not only a problem for richer nations.

The findings of the Food Waste Index were announced during the UK’s inaugural Food Waste Action Week, delivered by WRAP’s Love Food Hate Waste consumer campaign, which is spearheading this new programme of BCIs.

WRAP behaviour change work spans a number of priority materials that contribute heavily towards global greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, with food waste, plastics, and textiles BCIs running concurrently with others for recycling and resource efficiency. Its programmes operate in the UK and around the globe through partnerships that span more than twenty countries, over six continents.

WRAP has recently received funding from The Garfield Weston Foundation, the Avery Dennison Foundation and Stewart Investors. The organisation has also arranged seminars with its sustainability specialists and contributors from the financial sector, business and policy to demystify the circular economy, and outline what investors need to know about delivering ESG investment on a number of key environmental issues for plastic pollution, textiles and food waste. 

The charity is also speaking with businesses about becoming donors for its annual Recycle Week (20th – 26th September 2021), which has been running since 2004 – Amazon, Britvic, Coca-Cola, Coop, Danone, innocent drinks, Ocado, PepsiCo, The Natural Source Waters Association (NSWA) and Waitrose & Partners UK are already providing financial backing to support the week of action.

WRAP is also interested in speaking with potential donors for its second Food Waste Action Week (7^th - 13^th March 2022).

Ends