The group said about 56,000 boxes of food went to waste at the schools for just one meal. The survey also found that the most unpopular foods last Christmas were fried noodles, fried rice and sandwiches. These items accounted for 60 per cent of the leftovers.

And only 27 per cent of the schools surveyed collected plastic food containers afterwards for recycling.

The group called on all schools to encourage students to use their own utensils, reuse party decorations, and avoid using fake snow or spray-can streamers.

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