Suggestions to improve data coverage and comparability in food waste accounting studies across the EU

Abstract

Member States are now obliged to monitor the generation of food waste along the food supply chain and to take measures to limit it. To contribute to the harmonization of food waste quantification in the EU, the European Commission has published a delegated act establishing a common methodology and minimum quality requirements for the uniform measurement of food waste generated in Member States. A review of studies quantifying food waste at Member State level carried out by the European Commission Joint Research Centre (EC-JRC) unveils big discrepancies in the state-of-play in food waste accounting across Member States. Only a few countries have quantified food waste along the entire food supply chain. Moreover, the studies reviewed were developed following different quantification approaches, including the adoption of different food waste definitions, which limit their comparability. Based on the review conducted, this report summarizes the main limitations and data gaps encountered that hinder comparability of the results, in light of what is required by the delegated act. Issues identified include the food waste definition used, the assessment of edible and inedible food waste, the geographical and temporal scope and system boundaries, the quantification of food waste drained as/with wastewater, the choice of the measurement method, the use of primary and/or secondary data, the adoption of sampling and upscaling procedures, and the assessment of the uncertainty of the results. Suggestions are provided to support Member States in addressing the limitations and data gaps encountered. The harmonization of food waste quantification across the Member States is essential to ensure the comparability of the results and to assess the performance of the EU towards target 12.3 defined under the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production.