What is a Food Waste Hero?

  • What is a Food Waste Hero and how do I get involved?


  • Where can I find my Food Waste Hero card?
    • You can find your Food Waste Hero card under ' My Collection Slot' on the Volunteer Hub, or directly by clicking HERE.
    • Tip: bookmark the page so you can find it again quickly

  • How often can I collect food as a Food Waste Hero?
    • First of all, we're so happy to see so many Food Waste Heroes all around the world collecting and distributing surplus food in their local communities! Globally there are over 90,000 Food Waste Heroes and many of them are collecting regularly, that is once or twice per week, or irregularly, that is whenever it suits them and there's availability. 
    • To ensure that collections are distributed fairly amongst the Food Waste Hero community, whilst keeping collection slots filled, the maximum collection slots a Food Waste Hero can claim is subject to change. Read our most up-to-date guidance here.
    • As a Food Waste Hero you are expected to regularly collect food based on the business you have selected. You can register and decide which slots/frequency suit you better depending on the slots available in your area.

  • How much food can I expect to collect?
    • In short, it depends! Food Waste Heroes collect any and all unsold surplus food, so this is completely down to what the business has available. Having a car is not a requirement to be a Food Waste Hero, so we anticipate you will be able to collect comfortably by foot/other modes of transport from the vast majority of businesses. 
    • Some businesses will frequently have larger volumes of food surplus so collecting by car may be easier. Please do check in your Squad's group chat to confirm if this is the case, and ensure you have sufficient space and time to safely store and redistribute the food after collection.
    • You should never feel pressured to take home more food than you can safely manage from a collection even if it means having to leave some food behind at the store. If you would not be happy to consume the food that a store offers you i.e. it is beyond its use-by date, then you are completely within your right to refuse it. 

  • Why are no collections slots available near me?
    • All collection slots currently available near you can be viewed on the collection slots page on the Volunteer Hub.
    • Please note that collection slots are only visible to users living within a certain distance of the pick-up location for food safety reasons. 
    • If there are no collection slots showing as available near you, then it's either because there are no participating locations nearby, or they have all been claimed by other Food Waste Heroes already.
    • For more information about this please check this article

NB you cannot send your partner, friend or flatmate to collect the food from the business, unless they've completed all required Food Waste Hero training modules and have claimed your skipped/paused collection slot via the Volunteer Hub. More information here

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