The EC has proposed that Member States reduce waste in retail trade and consumption (households, restaurants, and catering services) by 30% per capita by 2030.
Following the first EU-wide monitoring of food waste using a common methodology, Eurostat estimated that 53% of food waste generated in the EU comes from households, 7% from wholesale and retail trade, and 9% from restaurants and catering. Other sectors contributing to food waste in the EU are the primary production (11%) and food processing and manufacturing sectors (20%).
Food waste also has a significant economic, social, and environmental impact. The EU produces nearly 89 million tons of food waste a year (131 kilos per inhabitant), which represents an estimated loss of 132 billion euro.
Reducing food waste is therefore a priority, according to the Commission, which has proposed that, by 2030, Member States reduce food waste by 30% (per capita) both in retail and consumption (restaurants, catering, and households) and by 10% in the processing and manufacturing sectors, according to the directive proposal it passed to the European Parliament and the Council amending Directive 2008/98/EC on waste, presented by the Commission on July 5.
According to the ordinary legislative procedure, this proposal must now be debated in the European Parliament and the Council.
The ultimate goal to which the EU is committed is to achieve target 12.3 of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), namely to halve, by 2030, global food waste per capita at the retailers and consumers' level, and to reduce food loss throughout production and supply chains.
Source: fepex.es