Small businesses in London have saved more than £100,000 a year and prevented 70 tonnes of food from going to landfill as a result of cutting the amount of food they waste.

The FoodSave scheme, backed by Mayor Boris Johnson, helped 15 companies achieve savings of more than £6,000 in direct food costs annually, with two of the businesses predicted to save more than £10,000 and another expected to save £24,000.

The scheme – which has set a target to divert more than 1,000 tonnes of food waste from landfill and save businesses more than £350,000 – is now being extended, with 200 more restaurants, pubs, hotels and canteens invited to apply to take part in the free scheme.

According to WRAP, the government waste advisory body, the equivalent of more than 1.3 billion meals are wasted every year in the UK’s hospitality and food service sector, costing companies an average of £10,000 a year.

Matthew Pencharz, the Mayor’s Environment Adviser said: “With FoodSave cafes, pubs and restaurants are learning simple ways to reduce the amount of food they throw away and saving thousands of pounds in the process. The Mayor now wants hundreds more businesses to get on board this great free scheme and help us dramatically reduce food waste across the city.“

The project is funded by the Mayor of London, European Regional Development Fund and London Waste and Recycling Board and being delivered by the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) and Sustain.