SCADOHow to reduce household food waste
Last updated: 10 June 2026
Most food waste happens at home, and most of it is avoidable. A handful of simple habits - planning, storing food correctly, using older items first, eating leftovers and reading date labels properly - cut waste, save money and reduce stress. Here is what the evidence says, and where a little tracking helps.
The scale of the problem
In 2022 the world wasted 1.05 billion tonnes of food, and households were responsible for 60% of it - about 79 kg per person per year (UNEP Food Waste Index 2024). In the EU, households generate over half of the roughly 130 kg of food waste per inhabitant each year.
The EU now has binding 2030 targets to cut food waste, including a 30% per-capita reduction across retail, food services and households. Cutting your own waste can save an average family hundreds of euros a year.
Five habits that work
WRAP's Love Food Hate Waste programme highlights five high-impact behaviours: plan meals and shop with a list; right-size your portions; understand date labels; use up leftovers and "forgotten foods"; and store food correctly. Buying only what you need - and actually using it - is the single biggest lever.
Store smart and rotate. Most fruit and veg keep best in the fridge, but potatoes, onions and bananas prefer a cool, dark cupboard. Practise first-in-first-out: move older items to the front so they get used before newer stock.
Read dates correctly - and freeze
Up to 10% of EU food waste is linked to people misreading "use by" (safety) and "best before" (quality). Never eat past a use-by date, but do not bin good "best before" food the day after its date - judge its quality. See our guide on use by vs best before.
Freezing is your friend: you can freeze food right up to its use-by date, and it stays safe indefinitely at -18C. Refrigerate leftovers promptly and eat them within a couple of days, or freeze them.
A note on safety
Reducing waste must never mean eating past a use-by date or ignoring spoilage. This is general guidance, not food-safety advice; follow the product label and official sources (UK FSA, EFSA, your Ministry of Health). SCADO is an organizational aid, not a food-safety authority. Discard anything with mould, an off smell or damaged packaging - when in doubt, throw it out.
SCADO turns these habits into one glance: it sorts your fridge, freezer and pantry by what needs using first and reminds you before things expire - a built-in "use it up" list, kept privately on your device. SCADO ->