Scotland this week moved closer to introducing a mandatory 20p to 25p charge on single-use cups, as well as wider bans of cups in offices and at events and festivals. The government’s expert panel on environmental charging and other measures (Epecom) also called for a reduction target and said efforts to increase recycling infrastructure for…

The official food hygiene rating of every restaurant listed on the Just Eat platform is now available, giving consumers direct access to the latest Food Standard Agency (FSA) information for over 30,000 restaurants and takeaways. The move follows new data showing that 93% of people support mandatory display of the information online. Indeed, 81% said…

Domino’s, Greene King, Dairy Crest, Aramark, Mondelēz and IKEA feature among a list of more than 350 companies continually failing to report on the impact their operations have on the world’s forests. More than 1,500 companies, all deemed to have a significant impact on deforestation or to be susceptible to deforestation risk, were asked to…

Fixing the food system requires companies to support a transition to sustainable food production and plant-based diets including ‘less and better’ meat, according to a new report. The briefing paper, published by the Food Climate Research Network (FCRN) and the Food Foundation and targeted at investors, highlights the sustainability risks for food retailers, caterers and…

More than six years after the horsesmeat scandal, samples taken by local authorities have found contamination of one in five meat products with species not on the label. An investigation by The Mirror found that foods sold by retailers, restaurants and caterers contained meat products that were not properly labelled including lamb doner kebabs without…

The government has been urged to take “real action” to achieve its net zero ambition after it was revealed that progress towards curbing greenhouse gas emissions is lagging far behind what is needed, even to meet previous, less stringent, emissions targets. In June, the government legislated to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 moving beyond a…

A pledge by Boris Johnson to review the tax on sugary drinks if he becomes prime minister has been criticised by health experts. The Royal Society of Public Health (RSPH) described Johnson’s proposal to launch a comprehensive review into the effectiveness of so-called ‘sin taxes’, including products high in salt, fat or sugar, as “short-sighted”…

Campaign groups are urging UK governments to step in and secure the future of North Sea cod stocks after levels were found to have fallen to a critically low level. WWF, ClientEarth and the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) have written a joint letter to environment secretary Michael Gove and the Scottish Government to demand urgent…

Just half of small and medium-sized hospitality businesses say they are doing all they can to cut single-use plastic waste, a survey has found. Of the hospitality and leisure businesses surveyed for a YouGov poll for Keep Britain Tidy and Brita, 17% said they should be doing much more to reduce their use of single-use…

Single-use plastic cutlery, stirrers, straws, plates and bowls, as well as all polystyrene packaging, are amongst a list of items that businesses will need to eliminate by 2020.  Members of the UK Plastics Pact, led by WRAP, will have to get rid of eight items now deemed “problematic” or “unnecessary”. Oxo-degradable plastics are also on…