Global Food Waste

Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption is lost or wasted.

Food waste alone generates about 8%-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

If food waste were a country, it would be the third largest emitting country in the world.

Food waste emits more greenhouse gases than all countries in the world except China and the United States.

Around 931 million tons of food waste were generated in 2019. 61% came from households, 26% from food service and 13% from retail.

Around 88 million tons of food waste are generated annually in the EU. This is equal to 174 kg per person or €143 billion or 170,000,000 tons of CO2.

The further along the supply chain the food loss occurs, the more carbon intensive the loss and waste.

Different foods have different environmental impacts. The volume of meat that is wasted is not high compared to cereals and vegetables. However, meat requires much more resources to produce – so wasting meat still has a significant impact on climate change.

If 25% of the food currently being lost or wasted globally was saved, it would be enough to feed 870 million people around the world.