According to the findings of the study, annual food waste across the EU 27 Member States is estimated at approximately 89 million tonnes This represents 179kg per person for the four sectors combined: household; food service; wholesale/retail; and manufacturing sectors.
From a food manufacturing perspective, this means that all of the resources that were put into the production of a food, such as the raw materials, water and fuels, are also wasted including any sustainability measures taken to improve the environmental performance of the product. On top of that, 89 million tonnes waste produced also needs to be managed, placing further environmental, economic and social burdens on society and national authorities.
Resource efficiency is one of the top priorities of Commissioner Potocnik and food and drink manufacturers in general. The industry has put in place practices to avoid the production of waste and to utilise 100% of their agricultural raw materials by using parts that do not go into the main food product, for example, to produce valuable by-products or bio-energy. However, these efforts are seriously weakened if the food product is wasted by the end consumer.
Pascal Gréverath, Nestlé AVP for environmental sustainability and chairman of the CIAA environmental sustainability committee said:“Wasting food is unacceptable at a time when natural resources become increasingly scarce. Rather than banning specific food categories from our diets, preventing food waste, indeed, has one of the largest potentials for improving the sustainability of consumption habits and the production of food and drink products. Food manufacturers are ready to further collaborate towards finding solutions to curb the depletion of resources together with all members along the food chain, policy-makers, members of the scientific community and civil society.”
Several options could be used to tackle the issue, such as education of consumers regarding the proper storage and preparation of food and on the interpretation of ‘Best before’ and ‘Use by’ labels. Another option is to ensure that the products thrown away because of quality and cosmetic standards by supermarkets are maintained on the shelves if they are still good enough to eat. Here the ‘polluter pays’ principle needs to be taken into account in accordance with current EU environmental legislation. The overall aim should be to avoid food waste at every stage of the value chain and in ways that does not compromise food safety.
The CIAA looks forward to continuing to provide input and to engaging in constructive discussions with key stakeholders on this matter.
Source: CIAA
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