New research from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has found that food waste from households, retail establishments and the food service industry totals 931 million tonnes each year. Of that waste, almost 570 million tonnes of it occurs at household level (61%), 26% from food services and 13% from retail. The data suggests that in households almost 11% of total food is going to waste every year.
Surprisingly, lower-middle income to high-income countries seem to have similar amounts of food wasted at 74 kg per capita of food wasted each year. This shows that reduction in food waste needs to be a global target, which was not previously realised.
The huge impact of this is compared in the report to food being the third biggest cause of greenhouse gas emissions if food loss and waste were a country. Other impacts mentioned in the report include burdening waste management systems and exacerbating food insecurity which make it a major contributor to the three planetary crises of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste.
The research is said to be the most comprehensive food waste data collection, analysis and modelling to date, generating a new estimate of global food waste. The data has come as a shock to many, with previous estimates well below what has been found in this research.
The report highlights that one gap in data is how much of the food waste is inedible parts. Understanding how food waste in a particular sector is separated between its edible and inedible parts will help stakeholders both in understanding the problem and in designing the solutions.
Of all the ways to help the environment the report highlights that cutting food waste was one of the easiest ways for people to reduce their environmental impact. Coronavirus lockdowns seem to have helped people to plan their food more, with the UK having reduced waste by 20%.
The head of WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme), Marcus Gover, who helped write the report, said:
"We are so used to wasting food that we've forgotten its value, and the cost that feeding our growing global population has on the natural world. Like it or not, we in our homes are the most significant part of the problem."
