How much does food waste cost Britain each year?

With the rise of foodbanks and ever tighter household budgets, the issue of food waste is becoming ever more present in the social consciousness. Changing our habits at home and while in the supermarket is clearly important, with half of the UK's food waste coming from private households. But what is the food industry itself doing and how much does this waste actually cost?

Research by WRAP suggests that the annual bill for the hospitality and food service sector runs as high as 2.94 billion pounds, with this figure having increased continuously over the analysed period. This chart appeared recently in the Independent.