In Kind Direct, the Prince of Wales' charity, carried out a survey that showed how many things were being thrown away - many of which ended up in landfill sites.

The charity wants firms to work with it to redistribute wanted stock and goods to those who can make use of it.

A spokesman said:

"We save businesses time and money by redistributing the surplus and obsolete stock, which can tie up valuable warehouse space and management time, as we have the infrastructure in place to quickly accept donations and track everything through to the thousands of charities that benefit."