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Packaging design could play an important role in reducing food waste, a Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) spokesperson has said.

Mark Barthel, WRAP’s special advisor on retail, told Packaging News that pack design could “better take into account actual consumer behaviour”.

“Using two 250g packs side by side instead of one 500g could help reduce food waste,” he added.

According to Barthel (pictured), more precise information about how to store food in the home would also be useful.

“Instead of saying ‘Keep refrigerated’, it would be better to say, for example, ‘Keep refrigerated between 1ºC and 5ºC’,” he said.

A forthcoming WRAP report, which is due to be published by end of March, will say that food waste now amounts to 6.7 million tonnes a year, a fifth of all household waste.

Later in the year, the organisation will launch a campaign to raise awareness of food waste, of which about half could have been eaten, and will call on retailers to play a key role.