FPA Appointed to key WRAP Steering Group

The FPA is a founding Supporter of the WRAP Voluntary Agreement for the Hospitality & Foodservice Sector.

We attended the official launch of the agreement where our role and the role of packaging in helping to reduce food waste was recognised by the speakers: Environment Minister Lord Taylor and Liz Goodwin and Richard Swannell of WRAP. This Agreement is directed to reducing food waste in the hospitality and foodservice sectors just as WRAP's Love Food Hate Waste campaign also is achieving in households.

The specific objectives of the agreement for the Hospitality & Foodservice Sectors are:

1) To cut food and associated packaging waste by 5%
2) To increase the overall rate of food and packaging waste that is being recycled, sent to AD or composted to 70%
 
Signatories to the Agreement are the caterers, hospitality providers and foodservice operators while supporters to the agreement are the various trade associations and consultants involved with the industry.
Twenty eight hospitality and foodservice organisations (listed below) are founding signatories to the agreement and more are signing up.

We have taken a significant role in the development of the agreement. We were the only non Wrap representative on the panel that selected the consultants, SKM Enviros, who will provide the research and analysis by which progress is to be monitored. We have also commented on the specifics of the signatory pack as well as the various questionnaires which were used to help develop it. The agreement was outlined at our environment seminar earlier this year and the Minister recalled our event as a positive step in the Agreement's development.

Please find attached the press release we have issued. You are very welcome to use this press release under the auspices of the FPA as it is very important we continue to present the unified front which has helped to demonstrate foodservice packaging's role in reducing food waste and its commitment to reducing the amounts going to landfill and that we continue our dialogue with all the parties involved. We will issue more press releases as the progress towards fulfilling the agreement is made.

Please also take a look at the article in  Packaging News which also includes quotes from Mark Pawsey MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Packaging; Liz Goodwin, Chief Executive of WRAP; Lord Taylor and Neil Whittall.

Neil Whittall, Chairman of the Foodservice Packaging Association comments:
The Foodservice Packaging Association is pleased to support the WRAP Voluntary Agreement for the Hospitality and Foodservice sector.
We are very pleased WRAP is making the reduction of food waste a major priority and that packaging's role in reducing food waste has been recognised.
Our members continue to develop packaging that delivers enhanced protection of food and drink enabling the public to enjoy both in perfect condition where and when they want but importantly extending the shelf life of food, minimising overall waste.
We do also recognise the responsibility packaging suppliers have to continue to ensure they provide optimum solutions both in terms of minimising the material used but also to encourage material development in recyclable and compostable materials ensuring the most beneficial end of life solutions are achieved and where possible encourage the use of recycled materials in manufacture.
Our support for the Agreement very much reflects our commitment to keeping packaging out of landfill by encouraging our members to continue to work closely with operators to meet demanding requirements, we are sure that our members are ready for the challenges ahead, having already established an excellent track record in environmental and sustainable developments in packaging to date.

We look forward to working with WRAP, Zero Waste Scotland, Wrap Cymru, Wrap Northern Ireland and the Agreement signatories to encourage this initiative to meet the shared targets.