The art of cooking leftovers, one of the earliest forms of recycling and a skill that helped us win two World Wars, needs to be rediscovered to help save the environment, a new government campaign claims.

Recipes such as bubble and squeak and shepherd's pie must come back on the menu to reduce the huge mountain of food waste from our kitchens, says the waste reduction agency Wrap.

Households throw away 6.7 million tonnes of food a year, one-third of all food purchased, of which at least half is still edible.