Frequently asked questions: Reducing food waste in the EU

Frequently asked questions: Reducing food waste in the EU

According to the most recent estimate, 88 million tonnes of food waste are generated in the EU each year with associated costs estimated at €143 billion.

While around 20% of food produced in the EU is lost or wasted, every second day some 36 million people cannot afford a quality meal (including meat, chicken, fish or vegetarian equivalent).

Food waste has a huge environmental impact, accounting for about 6% of total EU Greenhouse Gas emissions and puts unnecessary burden on limited natural resources, such as land and water use.

Reducing food waste has enormous potential for reducing the resources we use to produce the food we eat. Fighting food waste is a triple win: it saves food for human consumption; helps farmers, companies and consumers to save money; and lowers the environmental impact of food production and consumption. (...)