WASTEWISE: A Transformative Step Towards Reducing Food Waste in Europe
Food waste prevention and reduction stand at the forefront of the European Green Deal and of the Farm-to-Fork strategy, aimed at fostering a fair, healthy, and sustainable food system. The EU is committed to reduce food waste per capita by 30% at retail and consumer level by 2030, and to reduce food losses along the food production and supply chain. WASTEWISE project will contribute to meet such targets. WASTEWISE project commits to design realistic pathways for food waste prevention and reduction to deliver co-benefits for climate change mitigation and biodiversity. The project also evaluates the nutritional losses and overall socio-economic rebound effects of prevention and reduction.
Food waste occurs at all levels of the agri-food supply chain, from production to consumption. According to Eurostat, in 2021 58.4 million tonnes of food waste were generated in the European Union, equivalent to 131 kilograms per person (with an associated market value of 132 billion euros) causing 252 million tonnes of CO2 emissions, as well as wasting the environmental resources used to produce it, including land, water, fertiliser and other inputs. At the same time, more than 37 million people in the EU struggle to afford a quality meal every second day. At best, reducing and preventing food waste will help to address all these challenges, as it has an impact on changing economic inequality, poverty, and environmental damage. However, the overall impact of reduction and prevention needs to be systematically assessed. Along a duration of three years and a half, the WASTEWISE project will help to address such challenges by bridging the current data gaps in food waste and by including environmental impact assessment (Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), PEF-methodology) more holistically into food waste assessment.
