The Waste and Resources Action Program has started a "Love Food Hate Waste" campaign to reduce the amount of food being wasted in British homes, the agency said Monday in a news release.

The report said a third of all food purchased each year in Britain gets thrown in the garbage even though it could have been eaten, with fruit and vegetables making up 40 percent of the 6.7 million tons of food waste. The agency said apples, potatoes, bananas, tomatoes and oranges are the produce items most often thrown away.

Reducing food waste could cut carbon dioxide by 15 million tons each year, equivalent to taking one in five cars off the road, The Times of London reported.

"These dramatic figures show that although we are all keen to do the right thing buying plenty of fruit and vegetables, the benefit is clearly being lost when food gets thrown out untouched," WRAP official Liz Goodwin said in a statement.