Which Central London district has pledged to reduce food waste by 25%?

The Crown Estate, which is responsible for Regent Street & St James’s in central London, has pledged to reduce its food waste by 25% in a year's time, May 2020. That's five years quicker than the UK's official commitment to reduce food waste by 20% across all food and drink industries (otherwise known as the Courtauld Commitment).

It's a commendable start from some of the busiest streets in the UK.

But it's a battle that has only just begun for the hospitality industry, which contributes enough food to fill The Shard eleven times over to the UK's food waste mountain each year. Across the UK's restaurants and catering services, one in every six meals is wasted - resulting in a loss of £2.5 billion each year.

Jane Wakiwaka, Sustainability Manager at The Crown Estate says: "At The Crown Estate we take a long-term view in everything that we do. We champion sustainable practices across our business and in partnership with  our restaurateurs and retailers, The Regent Street & St James’s Food Waste Pledge is the next exciting step. We’re proud to spearhead an initiative that will unite many of the fantastic restaurants on our portfolio and reduce food waste for a more sustainable future."

So what does the food waste pledge actually mean? 

The Crown Estate is working with the Sustainable Restaurant Association to help the restaurants within its districts waste less food. They won't just be saving surplus food but being more inventive with ingredients and communicating their less wasteful approach to us diners.

So far 11 restaurants across Regent's Street and St James' have joined the food waste pledge. Those surplus food pioneers are: 

Brasserie Zedel; Angela Hartnett’s Café Murano; Frescobaldi; Hawksmoor Air Street; Hotel Café Royal’s Laurent; ikoyi; Ralph’s Coffee and Bar; Scully; Sketch; Stem and tibits.

Want to help make a food waste a thing of the past?

Here's how to help as a diner:

• Ask for a doggy bag. Seriously, no one is going to think any less of you. For extra eco points take your own container.
• Ask the restaurant where their ingredients come from. Ask them to explain their waste policy. The more we make it clear that surplus food is on our minds, the more restaurants will have to up their game. Look at what's happened to the plastic straw.
• Choose seasonal dishes or ones that have low food miles.
• Use an app like Too Good To Go and pick up surplus meals from restaurants on your way home from work. It saves you money, it's delicious and it's good for the planet.

Want more food waste tips for cooking at home?

Click here to get some awesome food waste kitchen hacks from top British chefs.