The UK's waste and recycling advisory body WRAP has today unveiled a new strategy designed to step up efforts to promote recycling and divert waste from landfill.

Under its new three year business plan the government-backed agency has set itself targets designed to cut the amount of waste going to landfill by eight million tonnes, reduce emissions of CO2 equivalent by five million tonnes and deliver up to £1.1bn of economic benefits by 2011.

To achieve these targets the organisation said it was aiming to deliver improvements to waste collection systems, the quality of materials being sent for recycling and being recycled, and the amount of food waste and packaging being produced.

Writing in the foreword to the report, WRAP chief executive Dr Liz Goodwin said that attempts to promote behaviour change among individuals and businesses would be "at the heart of every programme" the organisation undertakes.

The business plan also sets out WRAP's goal of bolstering capacity for recycling, composting and anaerobic digestion of both commercial and municipal waste, as well as stepping up work with the construction industry to reduce waste levels. In particular, the plan says WRAP will work to introduce more standards for the building sector to encourage good waste reduction practices and better promote recycling.

The move comes as new research from waste management company Global Renewables claimed that food sent to landfill in England and Wales each year emits greenhouse gases equivalent to the contribution made to global warming of 3.8 million flights from the UK to New York.

The company – which provides a mechanical and biological waste treatment technology capable of capturing methane emissions from waste while generating renewable energy and compost – said that 3.9 million tonnes of food waste is sent to landfill in England and Wales each year, resulting in 93,000 tonnes of methane emissions.

Methane is 21 times more effective as a greenhouse gas than CO2 and is estimated to be responsible for about 20 per cent of post-industrial global warming.

David Singh, managing director at Global Renewables, said political and business leaders need to pay greater attention to the contribution methane makes to global warming. "People can reduce their methane footprints simply by throwing away less food," he said. "But to make significant cuts in methane emissions we encourage local authorities to consider the whole spectrum of waste recovery techniques – some of which actually offset total emissions of carbon equivalents."