Food waste

Food waste or food loss is food that is discarded or lost uneaten. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous, and occur at the stages of production, processing, retailing and consumption.

Current estimates put global food loss and waste between one-third and one-half of all food produced. Loss and wastage occurs at all stages of the food supply chain or value chain. In low-income countries, most loss occurs during production, while in developed countries much food – about 100 kilograms (220 lb) per person per year – is wasted at the consumption stage.

Generally, food loss or food waste is food that is discarded or lost uneaten. However, precise definitions are contentious, often defined on a situational basis (as is the case more generally with definitions of [waste]).Professional bodies, including international organizations, state governments and secretariats may use their own definitions.

Definitions of food waste vary, among other things, in what food waste consists of, how it is produced, and where or what it is discarded from or generated by. Definitions also vary because certain groups do not consider (or have traditionally not considered) food waste to be a waste material, due to its applications. Some definitions of what food waste consists of are based on other waste definitions (e.g. agricultural waste) and which materials do not meet their definitions.

Under the UN's Save Food initiative, the FAO, UNEP and stakeholders have agreed the following definition of food loss and waste:

Important components of this definition include:

In the European Union, food waste was defined as "any food substance, raw or cooked, which is discarded, or intended or required to be discarded" since 1975 until 2000 when the old directive was repealed by Directive 2008/98/EC, which has no specific definition of food waste. The directive, 75/442/EEC, containing this definition was amended in 1991 (91/156) with the addition of "categories of waste" (Annex I) and the omission of any reference to national law.

In July 2014, the European Commission has announced its targets for the circular economy, waste management and provided a "food waste" definition as "food (including inedible parts) lost from the food supply chain, not including food diverted to material uses such as bio-based products, animal feed, or sent for redistribution" (i.e. food donation). Concurrently, all Member States of the European Union shall establish frameworks to collect and report levels of food waste across all sectors in a comparable way. The latest data are requested to develop national food waste prevention plans, aimed to reach the objective to reduce food waste by at least 30% between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2025. To enable the process, the Commission shall adopt implementing acts by 31 December 2017 in order to establish uniform conditions for monitoring the implementation of food waste prevention measures taken by Member States of the EU.

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