Scotland's hospitality and food sector could save more than £100 million a year by reducing food waste, according to a new report.
The industry produces 85,600 tonnes of food waste a year, costing about £166m.
Almost 75% of the waste could be avoided if it had been better portioned, stored and prepared, says WRAP, an organisation that promotes recycling. A total of 21% of food waste is due to spoiling, 45% is wasted in preparation and 34% from consumer's plates. Carbohydrates including bread, potatoes, pasta and rice make up 40% of waste.
The report from WRAP, Overview of waste in the UK hospitality and food service sector, looks at the cost and impact of food purchase and waste management.
In Scotland the total annual waste including food, packaging and other waste produced across the sector is 266,200 tonnes. Of this, 45% is recycled, sent to anaerobic digestion or composted.
New rules mean Scottish firms must recycle more from January 1. Under the Waste (Scotland) Regulations, all organisations must separate paper, card, glass, plastic and metal for recycling. Many organisations which produce or sell food must to recycle food waste.
Director of Zero Waste Scotland Iain Gulland said: "New regulations in Scotland mean most hospitality operators will have to recycle their food waste from January - but there are bigger financial savings to be made from reducing food waste in the first place."
A total of 22 Scottish-based organisations have signed up to the Hospitality and Food Service Agreement under which they pledged to reduce food and packaging waste by 5% by 2016.
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