ReFood UK calls for measures to tackle Halloween pumpkin waste

Food waste recycling firm ReFood UK commercial director Philip Simpson has said that the biggest issue during Halloween is tackling and minimising large amounts of pumpkin waste.

Halloween is currently the third largest holiday celebrated in the country after Christmas and Easter.

Every year, people in the UK buy and use thousands of pumpkins to carve them into lanterns.

Over the Halloween holiday period, more than 18,000t of edible pumpkins are wasted, which otherwise would have been sufficient to make a bowl of soup for every person in the nation.

According to Simpson, new solutions need to be adapted to manage the unnecessary waste.

Simpson said: “At ReFood, we work with businesses across the food supply chain to eliminate food waste to landfill.

“In a partnership with retail giant Sainsbury’s, we’ve helped stores across its network develop a more sustainable approach to waste management.

“As part of the agreement, food waste is collected from a number of Sainsbury’s depots, before being converted into gas, heat and fertiliser at ReFood’s state-of-the-art anaerobic digestion processing facilities.”

UK-based food distributor Hubbub launched a campaign, titled #PumpkinRescue, which includes a wide range of activities such as carving, cooking workshops, tasting events and recipe ideas from major chefs of the country.

Since its launch in 2014, the #PumpkinRescue campaign has been adopted by 23 towns across the UK and successfully diverted a significant 25t of pumpkin waste from landfill.