Food waste harms environment and society
Food waste creates green-house gas emissions and is a waste of natural resources used in food production.
Food waste in numbers
Consumers have contributed to the rising amount of food waste by misinterpreting expiry labels, discarding ugly food at the grocery store & bulk food purchases.
105
88 million
$1500
30% of food is lost
30% of annual food production is lost or wasted.
43 million
43 million people can’t afford a qualitymeal every second day in the EU.
-25% of food waste
25% reduction in waste food could cover the nutritional needs of people around the world suffering from food insecurity.
9,7 billion people
With the global populationexpected to reach 9,7 billion by 2050, ensuring global food security is an important agenda.
This translates to 1.3 Billion tonnes of food waste-In a world where millions are suffering from food insecurity.
Causes of food waste




Farmers produce excess food
out of anticipation of poor weather
or otheradverse conditions.
Fresh produce, meat and fish
spoil rapidly due to the lack of
proper transportation and packaging.
Supermarkets displaylarge
quantities ofproducts that reach
their sell-by date before being sold.
Households buy more
food than needed.
Food products require processing, packaging, transportation and distribution to retail outlets. Inefficiencies along these value chains contribute to food waste.
Consequences of food waste
Environmental impact
The FAO warned that 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted annually, thereby causing landfills, food shortages and a loss of resources used in food production.
Global emissions


Food waste triggers global GHG-emissions that ranks 3rd behind the USA and China.
Landfills from food waste occupy 3 times the surface of the EU.
The global food waste is sized 66,7 million Olympic swimming pools.
Food waste not only creates green-house gas emissions, but results in the waste of natural resources used in food production.
Socio-economic impact
Food waste presents a global economic loss across the value chain. The environmental pollution from food waste exerts a health and financial cost to humans.
$1 TRILLION
$700 BILLION
$900 BILLION
Food waste results in reduced profits for farmers, loss of natural resources, less money for individuals & families- all of which amount to billions of dollars.