Food Waste Action Week 17 - 23 March, highlights the often unseen climate change issue of food waste.

The UK generates around 9.5 million tonnes of food waste every year.This waste is sent to landfill adding  to greenhouse gas emissions fuelling climate change. As the UK’s largest annual food waste reduction campaign, Food Waste Action Week 2025 (17th - 23rd March) invites people to join the movement and make more sustainable food choices.

The week-long campaign encourages people across the UK to rethink food waste and take practical steps to reduce it in their everyday lives.  One powerful solution to food waste is the growing movement of Community Fridges (and cupboards). Community Fridges play a pivotal role in reducing food waste by redistributing surplus food. These grassroots projects collect perfectly good food that would otherwise go to waste – including fresh produce – and make it available to local communities.

Refurbs Flint established their Community Fridge in 2022 thanks to funding from Hubbub and Co-Op and support from ClwydAlyn and Groundwork North Wales. The Community Fridge averages 33 users per week and saves an average of 160 kg of food from landfill a week.

Jo Prandle, Community Fridge Co-ordinator at Refurbs Flint had this to say about the Community Fridge movement

"Community Fridges are a crucial part of the solution to both food waste (and food poverty).

They not only reduce the amount of food that ends up in landfill, but they also help communities access food they might not otherwise be able to afford. During Food Waste Action Week, we want to inspire more people to engage with their local community fridges and highlight how easy it is to make small changes in their shopping habits to help fight food waste."

Thanks to additional funding from the Landfill Disposal Tax administered by WCVA the Community Fridge at Refurbs Flint has been offering ‘Making Food Go further’ sessions. These sessions have focused on demonstrating how to reduce food waste and encourage ways of diverting food waste from landfill through making use of surplus food, cooking with leftovers, composting, and educating people on the differences between best-before and use-by dates.

Further funding has been secured from Hubbub to extend the offer of the Community Fridge into more rural areas with a Community Fridge due to launch in Treuddyn, Flintshire shortly.

Throughout Food Waste Action Week, we are encoraging local communities, businesses, and individuals to take action to reduce food waste.

To find out more about how to get involved with our Community Fridge, call us on 01352 734111 and ask for Jo or email [email protected] you can also keep up to date with our Community Fridge initiative on socials @RefurbsFlint