UN report says 17% of food wasted at consumer level
Wasted in 2019: 931 million tonnes of food sold to households, retailers, restaurants and other food services
Study finds food waste is a global, not just developed world, problem
Food Waste Index report helps countries track progress on UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 to halve food waste by 2030
An estimated 17% of food available to consumers was wasted in homes, retail outlets and restaurants in 2019, according to research published by the United Nations.
The weight roughly equals that of 23 million fully loaded 40-tonne trucks — bumper-to-bumper, enough to circle the Earth 7 times.
The Food Waste Index Report 2021, produced jointly by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and WRAP, also found that consumer waste was broadly similar in rich and poor countries. The United Nations is producing a Food Waste Index (FWI) as it seeks to support efforts to halve food waste by 2030.
The report presents the most comprehensive food waste data collection, analysis and modelling to date, and offers a methodology for countries to measure food waste.
The report finds that in nearly every country that has measured food waste, it was substantial, regardless of income level. It shows that most of this waste comes from households, which discard 11% of the total food available at the consumption stage of the supply chain. Food services and retail outlets waste 5% and 2% respectively. On a global per capita-level, 121 kilograms of consumer level food is wasted each year, with 74 kilograms of this happening in households.
An estimated 8 to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions are associated with food that is not consumed (waste and loss), a similar amount to road transportation.
Forests are cleared, fuel is burnt and packaging in produced just to provide food which is thrown away. Meanwhile, rotting food in landfills releases more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
With 690 million people affected by hunger in 2019, a number expected to rise sharply with COVID-19, and three billion people unable to afford a healthy diet, consumers need help to reduce food waste at home.
