European MEPs have recently put forward a number of measures and objectives to cut the annual 88 million tonnes of food that is wasted throughout the continent.
The European Parliament hopes to cut the figure in half by 2030 and called on the European Commission to lift existing restrictions, stressingthat a firm solution is required to relieve confusion in regards to “best before” and “use by” labelling.
Hungarian MEP Biljana Borzan said in April:
In developed countries food is wasted mostly at the end of the chain, at distribution and consumption. Everyone has a responsibility to tackle this problem.
“My report calls for a coordinated policy response on labelling, liability and education, as most consumers do not understand the precise meaning of ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ labelling”
MEPs have called on EU countries to achieve food waste cuts by 30 per cent by 2025 and 50 per cent by 2030.
By doing so this reiterates the objective that the Parliament set out in its waste legislation vote earlier in the year.
Back in April MEPs backed calls for new food waste targets where it was surmised that European food waste equates to 173kg per capita per year and leads to emissions totalling no less than 170 million tonnes.
The European Union was slammed by an independent report carried out by the European Court of Auditors at the start of the year, deploring a “total lack of organisation and communication” between the European Union and the European Commission.
Every year in the UK households waste about 7.3 million tonnes of food, with losses totalling around £13 billion, or £470 per household.
