With a rousing call to action, European Health and Food Safety Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis launched the EU platform on food losses and food waste, which met for the first time in the premises of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) in Brussels on Tuesday 29 November.
The platform, announced in the EU circular economy action plan of December 2015, was set up by the Commission to lead the efforts of all players on one of the universal sustainable development goals (Goal 12.3); that of halving the per capita volume of retailer and consumer food waste by 2030 and reducing food losses along the length of the production and consumption chain (see EUROPE 11607 and 11444).
The challenge is huge: some 88 million tonnes of food waste is generated annually in the EU, equivalent to more than 1 kilo of food waste per household per day. Meeting this challenge is “about nature, about nutrition, resources, about our ethical understanding”, the commissioner stressed.
“We are all responsible. Every person – and every country – needs to minimise food waste as part of the fight against poverty and hunger. Fighting food waste requires us to ‘rethink’ collectively how we produce, market, distribute and consume food”, Andriukaitis stated. He was speaking to the 70 public and private sector organisations which make up the platform.
Moving towards common method of measuring. CoR President Markku Markkula highlighted the value to local authorities and citizens of eating locally produced food and of distributing organic products in schools where children learn about reducing waste. “Our regions have their own action plan to evaluate the progress”, he told the press. Many cities have begun to consider how to reduce waste and stand ready to share best practice, he said. The CoR is advocating a common methodology across the EU to measure waste and wants a minimum target of a 30% reduction by 2030, he said. The Commission will begin work on a common methodology for measuring waste and will prepare guidelines to make food donation easier and to make clear in the legislation just exactly what is – and what is not – food waste.
On the sidelines of the meeting, the commissioner suggested that a binding target was not necessary. “All member states have signed the SDGs (sustainable development goals). The targets are there. Member states have their national programmes. Implementation, enforcement and reporting back is key”, she told EUROPE.
The platform decided to meet in plenary session twice per year. Sub-groups will consider specific issues, such as food donations and how to measure food waste, for example, and will report back to the platform. A digital platform will be set up to facilitate inter-sectoral cooperation, sharing of best practice and reporting on progress in key areas, such as knowledge and communities. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)