Tesco and WRAP Strengthen Partnership to Tackle Global Food Waste Ahead of COP30

Tesco has reaffirmed its longstanding commitment to fighting global food waste by deepening its collaboration with sustainability charity WRAP.

Image courtesy of WRAP

The renewed partnership will see the launch of a series of high-impact initiatives aligned with key environmental moments throughout the year. These are designed to galvanise action across the entire supply chain – from farm to fork – and influence policy as momentum builds towards COP30.

Food waste remains one of the world’s most pressing environmental issues, contributing an estimated 8–10% of global greenhouse gas emissions and amounting to more than one billion tonnes annually. The World Economic Forum also reports that food loss and waste cost the global economy around $936 billion each year, despite over 783 million people facing hunger daily and a third of the world’s population living with food insecurity.

Tony McElroy, Tesco’s Head of Circularity Campaigns, said: “We’re incredibly proud of all the steps we’ve taken so far, from avoiding waste by redistributing over 300 million meals to charities and communities, to helping customers save money and cut waste at home.

“We remain focussed on driving forward action across our entire supply chain and in collaboration with our key partners as we accelerate progress to halve our food waste.”

Tesco was a founding signatory of the UK Food and Drink Pact, managed by WRAP, and among the first retailers to ask its suppliers to adopt the Target-Measure-Act approach to food waste – a strategy it had already implemented across its own operations.

WRAP, meanwhile, has spent more than two decades leading global efforts to transform food systems, addressing food waste prevention, water security, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Although Tesco and WRAP have a long history of working together, this latest agreement marks the first time the two organisations have joined forces on a global scale with an ambitious new agenda.

WRAP CEO Catherine David said: “The need to reset our global food system is imperative as our population grows and the climate changes. One third of what we produce goes to waste every year while millions go hungry. We need a fair and sustainable system to protect these fragile networks from future disruptions and to make the most of the food we have, for all.

“Food security will become a priority for governments as the real impacts of climate change bite harder in coming years, and tackling waste is a key step they must take. WRAP and Tesco are taking a stand to call out inaction, and demand more from those who fail to act.”

Source: WRAP