Food Waste Toolkit

Following the successful campaign to tackle food waste in 2019 from the Scottish Government, in partnership with Zero Waste Scotland, the drive continues to encourage Scots to reduce and recycle their food waste with a call to Save Food, Save Money, Save the Earth.  The continued aim is to:

• Increase the number of Scottish households proactively recycling their food waste
• Encourage more Scottish households to proactively reduce their food waste
• Increase awareness of the environmental and personal benefits of reducing and recycling food waste
• Demonstrate the magnitude of food waste sent to landfill and its role in climate change
• Direct people to netzeronation.scot

Only one third of people understand the link between food waste and its impact on climate change. The campaign seeks to ensure the Scottish public know the importance of preventing and recycling food waste by – planning out their meals, buying only what they need and recycling the food waste they can’t prevent.

When food waste ends up in landfill, it rots, producing methane - one of the most damaging greenhouse gases, but, when you recycle your unavoidable food waste, it can be turned in to green energy to power Scotland’s homes.

Ultimately, the campaign wants everyone to recognise that by reducing and recycling food waste we can all play our part in cutting emissions, save money and save the earth.

Directing people to netzeronation.scot for information and tips on reducing and recycling food waste is also key. To support this, a new handy guide has been created, 22 Food Saving Wins to inspire and help people take action on food waste in 2022 and beyond. The guide includes top tips, information and advice. We have also included it as resource below for easy social sharing.

Campaign messaging will be shared from the Net Zero Scotland social media channels @ScotGovNetZero throughout the campaign from 21 February to 20 March. We’d love if you could show your support by liking, commenting and sharing the content.

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Suggested Social Media Posts

1. Did you know that Scottish households throw away around 600,000 tonnes of food waste every year? That’s the weight of about 2,000 Kelpies statues! By saving our food from going to waste, we can save money and save the earth.  For info and tips go to netzeronation.scot  #ZeroFoodWaste #RecycleFoodWaste #SaveFood #SaveTheEarth #LetsDoNetZero

2. More action is needed to help Scotland reach net zero and stop contributing to climate change. By reducing and recycling our food waste we can all play our part in cutting emissions. For top tips go to netzeronation.scot  #ZeroFoodWaste #RecycleFoodWaste #ReduceFoodWaste #SaveFood #SaveTheEarth #ShopSmarter #LetsDoNetZero

3. When food waste is recycled it can be turned into electricity, heat or fuel and also fertiliser or compost which can help to grow more food. One banana peel could charge your mobile twice and your weekly food waste could power two cycles of washing! #ZeroFoodWaste  #RecycleFoodWaste #ReduceFoodWaste #SaveFood #SaveTheEarth #LetsDoNetZero

4. Searches for ‘Food Waste’ by Scots increased by 89% on last year but more needs to be done to tackle the climate emergency. We can all play our part in reducing our food waste by planning our weekly meals and shopping with a list. For top tips go to netzeronation.scot  #ZeroFoodWaste  #RecycleFoodWaste #ReduceFoodWaste #SaveFood #SaveTheEarth #LetsDoNetZero

Remember to tag us in your posts - @ScotGovNetZero – and use our

campaign hashtag: #ZeroFoodWaste

Below are key messages for this campaign and we would love you to use these to help drive awareness. We appreciate that some of these messages will be more relevant than others for your own channels and activity, so please use whichever messages work best for you. The messages can be weaved into any additional communication platforms that you are using such as articles, blog posts, WhatsApp/SMS or social media posts.

Save food, save money, save the earth

• Only 1/3 of people understand the link between food waste and climate change. When food waste isn’t recycled, and ends up in landfill, it decomposes and produces methane - a greenhouse gas that is more harmful than carbon dioxide. But if recycled, food waste can be turned into green energy - a weekly food waste caddy can power an average house for 2 hours

• Scottish households throw away around 600,000 tonnes of food waste every year, that’s the weight of about 2,000 Kelpies statues! This is taken to landfill where it rots and produces destructive greenhouse gases, like methane. But when food waste is recycled it can be converted into valuable fertilisers and green energy that helps power Scotland’s homes.

• By saving our food from going to waste, we can save money and save the earth.  Households could save approximately £440 per year, and it would benefit the environment as much as taking almost a fifth of cars off the road.

• People planned and managed their food better in 2020 during the pandemic and searches for ‘Food Waste’ by Scots increased by 89% on last year!  But more action is needed to help Scotland reach net zero and stop contributing to climate change. By reducing and recycling food waste we can all play our part in cutting emissions.

• The best thing we can do is not waste food at all but sometimes it’s unavoidable. Planning and shopping smarter can help you reduce the amount of food you waste and instead of throwing it in the bin it’s better to recycle it to help tackle climate change.

• Over half (56%) of people in Scotland now say that they are recycling their food waste, but around 80% of households have access to food recycling facilities.

• Food waste can be recycled into electricity, heat or fuel and also fertiliser or compost which can help to grow more food. One banana peel could charge your mobile twice and your weekly food waste could power two cycles of washing.

• To find out more about how to get a food waste caddy and for details of food waste collections in your area, contact your local council.

• If you don’t have access to food waste recycling collections, you can still recycle your food waste by turning it into compost. For more info how to set up home composting, visit netzeronation.scot

• There are lots of quick and simple things you can do to reduce and recycle your food waste. For tips to save food, save money, save the earth, go to netzeronation.scot

Please see some draft copy below, which can be used for your own channels and newsletters etc.

Save Food, Save Money, Save the Earth!

Scottish households throw away around 600,000 tonnes of food waste every year, that’s the weight of about 2,000 Kelpies statues! This is taken to landfill where it rots and produces destructive greenhouse gases, like methane. But when food waste is recycled it can be converted into valuable fertilisers and green energy that helps power Scotland’s homes.

The best thing we can do is not waste food at all but sometimes it’s unavoidable. Planning and shopping smarter can help you reduce the amount of food you waste and instead of throwing it in the bin it’s better to recycle it to help tackle climate change.

There are lots of quick and simple things you can do to reduce and recycle your food waste. For tips to save food, save money, save the earth, go to netzeronation.scot

1. Avoidable food and drink waste costs Scottish households £1.1billion in unnecessary purchases each year.
2. By reducing food waste, each Scottish household could save up to £440 per year.
3. Avoiding food waste would benefit the environment as much as taking a quarter of cars off the road.
4. When food waste isn’t recycled, it ends up in landfill. Here, it decomposes and produces methane - a greenhouse gas that is 28 times more harmful than carbon dioxide.
5. Over 56% of people in Scotland now say that they are recycling their food waste, but 80% of households have access to food recycling facilities.
6. If everyone in Edinburgh recycled one banana peel it would generate enough energy to power Princes St for nearly four days.
7. Recycling six tea bags generates enough energy to boil a kettle to make another cuppa.
8. If everyone in Edinburgh recycled one apple core it could power Tynecastle Stadium for over 25 hours.

To support the campaign and show people the simple food-saving wins they can make to save money and help reach net zero emissions, we have created a range of assets to drive action. 

A handy pdf guide to reduce and recycle food waste

22 Food Saving Wins

Films and images for Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

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