Its study the Food Waste Race, undertaken in partnership with environmental charity Hubbub, found that 72% of participants had leftover chips after eating their takeaway meals.
As a result, the company is launching a trial with a group of its restaurant partners to offer a smaller waste less’ chip portion size.
A survey of takeaway customers which took place at the beginning of the Food Waste Race pilot found that over half (53%) of participants said that they had leftovers from their takeaways due to portion sizes being too big. The top two reasons given for leftovers going to waste were because customers thought they were unsafe to eat later or didn’t like the thought of eating leftover takeaway food.
A series of activities and challenges sought to show participants how they could reduce food waste from their takeaways including providing tips on food safety and inspiration on how to make the most of their leftovers.
At the end of the pilot, 92% of participants said they were wasting less takeaway food, while 97% said they were likely to reduce takeaway waste in future.
Participants were also more likely to store typically wasted foods like pizza, curry and chips in the fridge to eat later.
“Food waste is one of the greatest issues of our generation. Roughly a third of all food we produce in the world is wasted, which has a huge environmental and economic impact,” says Robin Clark, senior director of global partnerships, sponsorships and sustainability at Just Eat Takeaway.com.
“If food wastage were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gasses in the world. With 60,000 restaurants on the Just Eat platform in the UK, we know that we have a role to play to help reduce food waste.
The Food Waste Race builds on previous research from Just Eat, carried out with the Sustainable Restaurant Association in 2019, that found that £1.8bn worth of takeaway food is thrown away every year in the UK. Of that, £376m worth of food waste occurs in takeaway outlets while households account for £1.4bn.