More than 753,000 tonnes of food went to waste in the Republic in 2022 , according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) food waste statistics. At EU level, 58.5 million tonnes of food waste — or 131kg per person — is generated annually. The cost to the EU associated with food waste is €132 billion.
And it is individuals and their households who are the main culprits; in Ireland 29 per cent of food waste is generated at household level.
Statistics are hard to absorb so we create comparisons for the engaged consumer: if food waste were a country it would be the third highest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions after the US and China. Or how about this one: the economic, social and environmental cost of food wasted is the equivalent to the gross domestic product of France?
It was good news that the EU Commission recently proposed mandatory food waste reduction targets
Halving our food waste is the number one measure we can employ to stay within a 1.5 degrees temperature increase by century’s end, according to Project Drawdown, the non-governmental organisation advancing science-based solutions to climate change. Yet we have just 75 months to 2030, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) signatories are not on track to deliver on UN SDG 12.3, to “halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses.”
Progress has been made on the green and circular economy agenda in Europe. Since 2015, the EU has published a schedule of legal reforms and funding programmes. It established the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste. Yet without robust, enforceable food waste reduction targets, there are simply too many carrots and no sticks. That’s why it was good news that the EU Commission recently proposed mandatory food waste reduction targets. Binding targets will give us a greater chance of meeting our obligations while improving food security and saving money.
But while rapping our collective knuckles it is important to note a criticism of both the EU protocol for food waste measurement and the draft directive: they ignore food “loss”. This is food wasted before it ever leaves the farm gate or in primary production.
Mandatory targets are important for Ireland, but they won’t land soon enough, or be ambitious enough, to make up for wasted time
Unfortunately, the EU’s proposed mandatory target is not 50 per cent. Under the proposal, member states are required to take the necessary measures to reduce food waste by 10 per cent in processing and manufacturing, and by 30 per cent jointly at retail and consumption (in restaurants, food services and households) by the end of 2030. The European Federation of Food Banks (Feba) welcomed the commission’s mandatory targets but said it needs to be more ambitious to achieve UN SDG 12.3. Feba strongly recommends the targets cover the entire food supply chain to address food loss at primary production stage.
The draft directive states the mandatory reduction levels “should provide a strong policy impulse to act and ensure a significant contribution to global targets”, but should be proportionate and feasible, considering the capacity of different actors in the food supply chain. The commission suggests that the figures can be revised in 2027 when the measures are reviewed to see whether we are making progress.
The takeaway — excuse a problematic pun — is that something can be necessary and insufficient. Mandatory targets are important for Ireland, but they will not land soon enough, or be ambitious enough, to make up for wasted time. Unfortunately, in whatever form it takes, it could be 2025 by the time the directive is passed. At that stage, it will be directly effective only against member states and it will still need to be transposed into Irish law. How many months will be left until 2030 by then?
This is why it is so important for the Government to continue to drive the key priorities listed in our National Food Waste Prevention Roadmap, published last winter, which supports our commitment to UN SDG 12.3. One of these is the Food Waste Charter, launched by the EPA during the summer, on a voluntary basis, for businesses all along the supply chain. The charter invites food producers, manufacturers, retailers and hospitality to target, measure, act and report on progress. There is no time to waste to stop wasting food, so as individuals, as families, as businesses, we cannot afford to wait for regulation. Respecting food and saving money is the climate action we can take three times a day.
- Angela Ruttledge is head of public engagement, FoodCloud, which is a member of the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste