The European Environmental Bureau (EEB), which consists of 180 NGOs, called, on Tuesday 20 September, for an “end to the food waste scandal in the EU”, in the light of a report by the NGO Feedback EU made public the same day.
The report, entitled ‘No Time to Waste’ shows that the EU wastes more food than it imports, undermining its food security in a cost of living crisis.
In 2021, the EU imported almost 138 million tonnes of agricultural worth a total of €150 billion, while at the same time wasting a higher amount, 153.5 million tonnes of food each year, the NGO estimates, almost double the previous estimates, due to more data being available on food wasted on Member State farms.
Based on this report, 43 NGOs from 20 EU countries (including Feedback EU, EEB, Slow Food Europe, Zero Waste Europe) issued a joint statement calling for a binding collective target to halve EU food waste by 2030 — Farm to Fork — and to consider extending Member States’ reporting of food waste data to cover all food waste on the farm and not just the smallest portions.
The NGOs hope to put pressure on the European Commission, which is planning to set a binding target when it revises the European directive 2008/98/EC on waste (see EUROPE 12960/13). This proposal to revise the framework to reduce waste, including food waste, and the environmental impact of waste management was confirmed for 2023 in the Commission’s Letter of Intent, which accompanied Ursula von der Leyen's State of the Union speech on 14 September.
Link to the Feedback EU report: https://aeur.eu/f/36a (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)