LONDON, — Thirteen grocery retailers have joined the initiative to bring down the amount of food waste and packaging from their products.

Asda, Boots, Budgens, the Co-op, Londis, Iceland, Kwik Save, Marks & Spencer, Morrison's, Sainsbury's, Somerfield, Tesco, and Waitrose have all joined forces with the U.K.'s WRAP (the Waste and Resources Action Program) by pledging their commitment at executive level.

Known as the Courtauld Commitment, the package took shape at a meeting held at the Courtauld Gallery earlier this year, where Environment Minister Elliot Morley and chief executive of WRAP, Jennie Price, met with representatives from the majority of the top retailers, as well as the British Retail Consortium.

Signatories have agreed to design out and further growth in packaging waste by 2008 and deliver actual reductions by March 2010.

They have also agreed to identify ways to tackle food waste and its associated problems.