Agriculture & Food Systems

With more than one person in ten facing severe food insecurity, this waste seems shocking. But it also has an alarming impact on climate change.

At every stage, from clearing land for agriculture to temperature-controlled food shipping, the food production process contributes to global warming. Even the disposal of waste food harms the environment – food waste sent to landfill releases greenhouse gases such as methane. The UN says that approximately 8-10% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions relate to food waste.

Tackling waste

Faced with these facts, there has been an increased focus on food waste in recent years. UN Sustainable Development Goal Target 12.3 aims to halve per capita global food waste at retail and consumer levels by 2030, and to reduce food losses along production and supply chains.

In low income nations, a greater percentage of food waste occurs during production, storage or distribution. In high income nations, more food tends to be wasted at the retaul and consumer level. In the UK, for example, households account for some 70% of the estimated annual 9.5m tonnes of food waste.

Policymakers are therefore approaching the problem in different ways. In the EU, the European Commission, as part of its Farm to Fork Strategy, has proposed a revision of rules on date marking, as well as the introduction of legally binding targets to reduce food waste by the end of 2023. It also intends to investigate food losses at the production stage.  

Date marking

One area of focus in the fight against consumer waste is date marking. The “Use By” date relates to food safety (being the date up until which the food may be safely consumed, cooked or processed), whereas the “Best Before” date relates to food quality (being the date up until which the food is at its best in terms of flavour and texture).

Research has repeatedly shown that consumers confuse the two terms, throwing away food that reaches its Best Before date on the assumption it is no longer safe to eat. 

In the UK, the government’s 2021 consultation on a waste prevention programme for England suggested promoting a better understanding of Best Before dates through consumer campaigns and behaviour initiatives. And while the finalised programme has yet to be published, other initiatives are making progress. A recent campaign by the climate action NGO Wrap has encouraged supermarkets including Sainsbury’s, M&S, Waitrose and Asda – some working with Wrap – to reduce the number of uncut fresh produce product lines that carry Best Before dates.

An earlier Wrap initiative created guidelines for the safe and legal redistribution of food that had passed its Best Before date to organisations that could use it.

Reporting waste

Policymakers also want to increase the transparency around waste by food business operators (FBOs). Earlier this year, the government consulted on improving the reporting of food waste by large FBOs in England. This could potentially see large companies prosecuted for non-compliance. A summary of responses to the consultation will be published ‘in due course’.

Elsewhere in the UK, the Scottish government has proposed the mandatory reporting of food surplus and waste in the consultation on its Route Map to 2025.

In the EU, a food waste reporting framework has been introduced to help standardise the reporting of food waste levels and contribute to the global monitoring of Target 12.3. 

Using technology

Technology can be deployed to reduce food waste at the source and its impact on the environment – for example, by minimising the use of pesticides and water, increasing yields and preventing soil degradation.

Access to fast broadband is key for much of this technology. This is one reason the European Commission is accelerating the roll-out of fast broadband in rural areas.

Technology can also aid transparency around waste in farming. In the UK, this continues to be omitted from official estimates (such as the 9.5m tonnes mentioned above). A new study from WWF and Tesco suggests that 2.9 million tonnes of edible food is wasted on UK farms each year. 

Better measurement and reporting from farms is clearly needed to identify the key causes of waste, to help shape solutions and to track progress. But the lack of suitable technology is frequently cited as a barrier to this – highlighting the fact that technical innovation, as well as legislation and behavioural change, will be needed to meet Target 12.3.

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