Food waste measurement

According to the European Commission, an estimated 20% of the total food produced is lost or wasted. At the same time 43 million people cannot afford a quality meal every second day. As a basis for avoiding food waste it is inevitable to monitor or track the food waste in all parts of the supply chain. One main recommendation of the European project FUSIONS about food waste was to accurately quantify food waste in Europe since there is a measurable target, the SDG 12.3, to achieve that requires monitoring. The European Commission has elaborated a common EU methodology to measure food waste to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal 12.3, which targets on food waste and maximizing the contribution of all actors in the food value chain. The delegated act introduces a definition of food waste, requests to adopt legislation on food waste measurements as well as an EU-wide food waste reduction target which should be met in 2030. Besides this the delegated act aims to require all European countries to deal with food waste prevention programs and food donation. The delegated act is valid for all stages of the food-supply chain: primary production, food processing, wholesale and retail trade and other food distribution, out-of-home catering with restaurants and private households. This means that food waste shall be monitored and documented in each of these stages. The whole calendar year should be mapped to take seasonal differences into account. From 2020, member states will be required to report annually on the extent of food waste. Do you want to get further information? Klick here. In the project AVARE four research institutes from Finland, Norway, Sweden and Germany perform case studies with food waste measurements, which are part of the work package 1. Read more about the measurements here.