Waste and Recycling

Love Food Hate Waste

If you only have time on this visit to read the first sentence, this is the thought we want you to take away:

Good food is something to love and relish, and we can do more to cut down on how much we waste .

Food accounts for about 20% of household waste. Surprisingly we throw away more food than packaging.

WRAP (the Waste Resources Action Programme) show that around a third of all the food we buy in the UK ends up being thrown away. Whilst some of this waste is not edible (bones etc) there is plenty of good food that could have been eaten.
The average household spends £400 on food per year that was not eaten.
In the UK we throw away 6.7 million tonnes of food each year. Much of this ends up in landfill sites.
The wasted food ends up in landfill, unable to decompose properly because, squashed under all the other waste, it doesn’t have any access to air. So instead methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, is produced which contributes to global warming.

So, is there anything practical that we can do at home to enjoy the food we buy whilst doing our bit to cut how much we waste? Thankfully, there is.

All 14 Kent councils have joined forces with Wrap on a great new campaign called “Love Food Hate Waste”. You’ll see coverage in newspapers and magazines. In Kent, we’re the only county in the country where you’ll also see it on billboards, buses, bus stops and in schools.

Want to know what the campaign looks like?

Easy – just visit the Love Food Hate Waste campaign website to see how a pear and a tomato are the stars of the campaign www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

The councils are Kent County Council, Medway Council and the district/borough councils of: Ashford, Canterbury, Dartford, Dover, Gravesham, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Shepway, Swale, Thanet, Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge & Malling and Thanet. Our statement of support is that:

“All the councils in Kent and Medway are proud to be among the first to support the Love Food Hate Waste campaign. Kent is known worldwide as the 'Garden of England'. Our high quality fruit and vegetables are enjoyed and savoured across the county. It is always sad when such tasty and wonderful food goes to waste. Cutting food waste also helps to protect the environment.

We wholeheartedly encourage everyone to “Love Food Hate Waste”.

Free Leaflet

For a free leaflet on storage of food, perfect portions, use by and best before dates please send an email to recycling@dover.gov.uk - remember to include your name and address.

Recycle for Dover District

Dover District Council Wasteline: 01304 872428

E-mail: waste@dover.gov.uk