28,500 tonnes of waste food thrown out in Shropshire every year
Some 28,500 tonnes of kitchen waste is thrown out by Shropshire residents each year, it has been revealed.
And parents who continue to cook for children who have grown up or left home are shouldering some of the blame.
Labelled "hotel parents" in a report presented by Shropshire Council to the House of Lords, they are parents whose children treat their home "like a hotel" routinely having dinner cooked for them, only for it to end up in the bin.
Ministers, including North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson, have accused the public of ignorance about what to do with leftovers.
Environment Secretary Mr Paterson said: "The fact is, it is shocking really in this day and age that good food is thrown away, partly out of ignorance and party out of aesthetics." He is backing anaerobic digestion, which uses food or farm waste to generate heat or electric power.
But a House of Lords inquiry into food waste heard parents struggling to adjust to their children leaving home are adding to the problem.
Figures released on Thursday showed a sharp rise in the number of homes living with the "boomerang generation" of young people who go back to live with their parents.
A written report from Shropshire Council to the House of Lords said: "There are so-called 'hotel parents', those with older children who treat their homes like a hotel."
Callum McLagan, spokesman for the council, added: "We cannot be 100 per cent accurate about how much is food waste but evidence from national studies suggests we are looking at about 28,500 tonnes of kitchen waste thrown out by Shropshire residents each year."
Star comment: More than one use for waste food
