Waste milk creates a carbon footprint equivalent to thousands of car exhausts, claims a study that highlights the environmental costs of inefficient farming and the aggressive marketing of supermarket food.
British scientists have calculated that the 360,000 tonnes of waste milk poured down drains each year creates greenhouse gases equivalent to 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, about the same as is emitted in a year by 20,000 cars. Figures show 99 per cent of milk thrown away by British consumers is designated as "avoidable waste".
The scientists also found that if the developed world cut its poultry consumption to Japanese levels - about half of those in the West - the cut in global greenhouse gas emissions would be equivalent to taking about 10 million cars off the road permanently.
The researchers concluded that cutting back on meat and dairy produce in favour of vegetables could significantly affect greenhouse gases linked to climate change.
- Independent
