Measuring, Monitoring, and Reducing Food Loss and Food Waste

Wasteless (Waste Quantification Solutions To Limit Environmental Stress), a new EU-funded project, seeks to develop tools and recommendations for measuring, monitoring, and eventually reducing food loss and waste by at least 20% annually.

The initiative was launched on the 18th and 19th of January 2023, when more than fifty European experts gathered in Vila Real, Portugal, for two days. Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey are among the 16 beneficiaries, 12 affiliated organizations, and one associated partner in the multidisciplinary collaboration. UTAD (University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro) Vila Real, PT is the administrator. The budget is EUR5.5m from the Horizon Europe initiative of the EU.

“Wasteless will contribute to achieving ‘Farm2Fork’ objectives and targets and ‘European Green Deal’, which aims to reduce amounts of food waste by half per capita at retail and consumer levels by 2030. In addition, outcomes from this project could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade, contributing to global climate change mitigation strategies,” a recent Europatat press release reveals.

It will also provide grounds for conducting case studies to understand the utilization and role/contribution of particular food groups like fruits and vegetables, fruit juices, processed meat, dairy products, and cereals to address high levels of domestic food waste. These studies are our best means of evaluating and measuring the processes of action that will allow for the long-term reduction and re-use of this waste.

The project will also look into how to quantify the data and measure food loss and waste in important and lesser-known food supply networks. In parallel, it will create a toolbox, a cutting-edge collection of decision-support tools for all those involved in the food chain as well as policymakers, in collaboration with customers, non-governmental organizations, and HoReCa representatives through centers located all over the EU.

Currently, each European resident wastes roughly 173–343 kg of food per year, according to the European Parliament. Accordingly, approximately 88m tonnes of food are wasted annually across the 27 EU Member States, spending an estimated 143bn euros. Numerous sources contribute to food waste, including households (22%) and primary production (58%) in considerable amounts. The remaining percentages derive from retail (3%), and food service (7%).