The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has developed a new methodology for measuring food waste on a global scale from the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 12.3), which aims to reduce it by 2030.
Food Waste Index – Data Collection Approach (UNEP).
Reducing food waste offers multiple benefits for people and the planet, improving food security, addressing climate change, saving money, and reducing pressures on land, water, biodiversity, and waste management systems. Yet the potential for policies to do so has been woefully underestimated to date. This lack of policy foresight is symptomatic of an overall underestimation of the true extent of food waste and its impact on the economy, society and the environment. Global estimates of food waste have been based on extrapolating data from a small number of countries, often using old data. Few governments have solid data on food waste to justify action and prioritize their efforts.
Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 (SDG 12.3) commits to halving food waste at the Retail and consumer level, as well as reducing food loss along supply chains. Out of this goal comes the Food Waste Index, unveiled in March 2021 by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the British nonprofit organization Wrap, which aims to advance outcomes on SDG 12.3 in two ways:
– First, it presents the most comprehensive food waste data collection, analysis and modeling to date, generating a new estimate of global food waste.
– Second, this report publishes an international standard for measuring food waste, at consumer, food service, and Retail levels, in order to monitor national progress toward 2030. Countries using this methodology will be able to generate robust evidence for planning a national strategy on food waste prevention based on food waste estimates that are sensitive enough to capture changes in food waste over two- to four-year intervals, and that allow for meaningful comparisons among countries globally. Specifically, the Target is monitored through two indicators:
- theFood Loss Index, which, under FAO monitoring, measures the losses of specific products through the supply chain to retail, not including the latter stage;
- TheFood Waste Index, which, under Unep’s monitoring, covers the later stages of the journey, i.e., measures total food waste (rather than losses associated with specific products) at the retail and consumer levels
The index analyzed in the Report adopts a three-level methodology to measure food waste from the household, retail, and food service perspectives. The household sphere includes households consisting of one or more people, retail includes stores, stalls and markets, and food service covers settings where food is consumed outside the home, such as school or company cafeterias. Each level is structured to be more accurate and precise than the previous one in terms of data and complexity:
- level 1 calculates a country’s waste by extrapolating data from other nations. The estimates are inadequate to track meaningful change and are intended only as a short-term support while waiting for governments to develop a national measurement;
- Level 2 is the recommended approach and meets the requirement to track food waste at the national level, in line with Target 12.3;
- Level 3 provides additional information such as breaking down food waste data into edible and inedible parts, offering more precise guidance for policy makers.
Finally, the study shows that food waste slows down the waste management system and exacerbates food insecurity. As a result, it is considered by Unep to be one of the main contributors to the three planetary crises: climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.
Data on food waste in relation to SDG 12.3 will be collected using the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD)/UNEP Questionnaire on Environmental Statistics (waste section). The questionnaire is sent every two years to national statistical offices and ministries of environment, which will appoint a single focal point for food waste in the country to coordinate data collection and reporting. The data will be made publicly available in the SDG Global Database and UNEP’s Food Waste Index Report, which will be published at regular intervals until 2030. The next questionnaire will be sent to member states in September 2022, and the results will be reported in the SDG Global Database by February 2023.
EU member states have also signed on to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes SDG target 12.3 to halve global food waste per capita, by 2030. The 2018 revision of the Waste Framework Directive establishes some new obligations for member states regarding food waste prevention (such as adopting national food waste prevention programs and monitoring and reporting food waste quantities). These are further supported by additional Commission actions implemented under the Circular Economy Action Plan such as the establishment of a multi-stakeholderplatform (EU Platform on Food Losses and Waste) and the adoption of guidelines to facilitate food donation and the use of former food and food chain by-products in feed production.
On October 1, 2021, the Commission published the initial impact assessment on setting EU-wide targets for food waste reduction. The proposal to set EU-wide targets is part of theFarm to Fork strategy action plan adopted in May 2020.
