Shared vision and strategy to prevent food loss and waste in Europe
The EU-funded FUSIONS project sought to enable, encourage, engage and support Europe in reducing food waste at all levels of the food supply chain. To fill the gaps in food waste data and make it more reliable, the FUSIONS team matched individual Member States’ data within a harmonised framework developed for this purpose. The framework includes a definition to enable the tracing of food waste, including inedible components, throughout the value chain. Framework outcomes were fed into a manual to support Member States in establishing more reliable monitoring and reporting of national food waste data at each supply chain stage. It can be used as a reference by researchers and authorities to develop coherent methods for acquiring food waste data in order to address data gaps more effectively. Seven feasibility studies demonstrated how successful initiatives to reduce food waste could be up-scaled and replicated in different locations across the 28 Member States. This will help to reduce the environmental and social impact of food waste. Recommendations and guidelines for a common European food waste policy framework targeting EU and national policymakers were delivered. Project partners provided estimates of food waste levels across the 28 Member States. They found that approximately 88 million tonnes of food intended for human consumption are lost annually along the EU supply chain. This amounts to 173 kg per person yearly, the equivalent of 20 % of all food produced in the EU. About 50 % of this is household food waste. A European multi-stakeholder platform was set up comprising more than 185 members from leading European organisations. The platform was supported by 19 meetings that attracted over 1 200 actors from different regions and aimed at exchanging ideas and making recommendations for food waste reduction. By laying out the planned steps for a more resource-efficient Europe, FUSIONS responded to the major resource efficiency challenges introduced by food waste.
Keywords
Food loss, food waste, FUSIONS, food waste data
