Food waste has become a major environmental concern in recent times, with estimates that an Irish person will 'throw out' an average of around €1,000 worth of food every year. Typically, supermarkets and other retailers have been reluctant to reveal how much produce they waste, but Tesco has today opted to publicly reveal details for the first time.

In a statement released earlier today, Tesco UK announced some staggering food waste figures, and the steps they're taking to combat them. 68% of salads grown for their bagged salads, for example, are wasted, with 35% of that in customers' homes after the purchase. To address this particular problem, the company has said it will stop multi-buy offers for larger bags of salad. They will instead introduce more special offers for smaller bags to encourage customers to only buy what they need.

The retailer also reveals that 40% of apples and almost half of bakery products are wasted, while one in ten bananas bought by customers are ultimately binned. As a result, Tesco will be devising various strategies, such as developing methods to store products more effectively, and providing tips for customers on how to use food that would otherwise be thrown away. They are also examining their own production processes to minimise the waste in their own stores and supply chains.

Richard Swannell, Director of the Waste and Resources Action Programme, states "we welcome Tesco’s approach to tackling food waste across their whole supply chain, and by identifying the hot spots, they can tackle these areas effectively. Food waste is a global issue and collaborative action is essential if we are to successfully reduce food waste and reap the financial and environmental benefits of doing so.”

In Ireland, different groups have been trying to tackle issues of food waste, with the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government's work dedicating resources to the likes of foodwaste.ie.