Petition · past parliament
Force supermarkets to donate edible unsold food rather than throwing it away.
Rejected
19 signatures
What the petition asks
France has become the first country in the world to ban supermarkets from throwing away or destroying unsold food, forcing them instead to donate it to charities and food banks.
The UK should follow suit.
The UK should follow suit.
Between them, Asda, Co-operative Food, M&S, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose – account for around 87% of the UK grocery market. They were responsible for the disposal of 200,000 tonnes of food in 2013.
This is food that has past its sell-by date, use-by, or best before, and is still perfectly edible that is just put straight into the bin.
According to an EU report into food waste, the UK is one of the worst offenders of food waste out of the EU 27 member states.
The UK should force supermarkets to foster deals with food banks and charities to collect the items they cannot sell so that as much food as possible can be used rather than put in the bin.
This is food that has past its sell-by date, use-by, or best before, and is still perfectly edible that is just put straight into the bin.
According to an EU report into food waste, the UK is one of the worst offenders of food waste out of the EU 27 member states.
The UK should force supermarkets to foster deals with food banks and charities to collect the items they cannot sell so that as much food as possible can be used rather than put in the bin.
Why it was rejected
There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.
Timeline
| 5 Feb 2016 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 8 Feb 2016 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
19
Status
Rejected
Rejected
8 Feb 2016
Follow this petition
Sign in to get an email when the government responds, a debate is scheduled or held, or the petition closes.
Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.