Another month, another green initiative from the European Union! This time, the EU has proposed a plan to cut food waste, with binding targets throughout supply chains that would require member states to reduce food waste by 10% in processing and manufacturing by 2030. EU members will also be required to cut food waste by 30% per capita in households and foodservice.

Commissioner for health and safety at the European Commission Stella Kyriakides said the proposed plan was an opportunity to map the future and redesign how food is produced and consumed. It also presents an opportunity for farmers and the food industry to take the lead on making sustainability their point of difference and stay ahead of competitors. Industry lobby body FoodDrinkEurope said the EU’s new plans shouldn’t undermine businesses that are working in line with targets set by the UN in 2015 which aims to halve food waste by 2030. The organisation further said it is important to collect robust and reliable food waste data from member states to enable the sector to meet food waste targets and facilitate effective food waste prevention strategies.

The EC says almost 59mt of food are wasted every year across the EU, representing an estimated value loss of €132bn. It’s estimated each EU resident waste around 131kg of food each year, totalling 252m tonnes of CO2e or about 16% of total greenhouse gas emissions from the EU food system.