Food waste costs the UK economy about £22bn annually. Photograph: EnVogue_Photo/Alamy Food companies should have to report how much they throw away as a first step towards reducing the vast amounts of edible food squandered in the UK, a group of prominent businesses have said. About a third of the food produced globally every year is binned , much of it before it reaches the consumer at a cost of almost £22bn annually to the UK economy. Environment secretary Steve Reed has said he wants to see less waste of all kinds. Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images There is also a heavy environmental toll: food waste globally contributes up to a 10th of greenhouse gases. More than 30 food businesses, including supermarkets and food producers, have written to the environment secretary, Steve Reed , calling for mandatory reporting of wasted food. They argue that forcing companies to confront the reality of how much they produce and what happens to it will spur better behaviour, including more efficient processes and increased efforts to reuse surpluses. Reed has spoken repeatedly of his desire to see a “circular economy”, with less waste of all kinds. The government has a target of halving food waste by 2030, but has yet to set out new measures to meet it. The Observer understands that ministers are willing to consider placing a duty on companies to report their waste. Jamie Crummie , co-founder of Too Good to Go, an online service that lets restaurants and food retailers advertise last-minute surplus food at a discount to consumers, organised the letter to Reed, along with the British Retail Consortium (BRC). He said compulsory reporting would be a vital first step and would allow everyone – consumers as well as the government and other businesses – to judge how careful, […]