How Much Food Waste is There Each Year?
How much food does the world waste each year? According to the U.N. Environment Programme, industrialised nations waste 222 million tons of food annually. Sub-Saharan Africa, by contrast, produces 230 million tons of food every year, almost the same as the food produced by the wealthiest countries in the world. The food that goes to waste could fill Lake Geneva three times. And about 28 per cent of the world’s arable land is used to grow that food.
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You can put the following food waste in your caddy:
You cannot put the following waste in your caddy:
meat and fish – raw or cooked, including bones and skin
fruit and vegetables – raw or cooked
all non-liquid dairy products
eggs including shells
bread, cakes and pastries
rice, pasta and beans
uneaten food from your plates and dishes
tea bags and coffee grounds
liquids
oil
liquid fat
How Much Food Waste: Causes of Food Waste
Human error is the leading cause of food waste.
The leading cause of food waste is human error.
Food waste may include improper planning, overcooking, incorrect weight and size, improper management, and insufficient finances.
Incorrect commercial waste disposal of this food waste is a massive problem.
Technical factors may also contribute to the amount of food wasted.
Improper harvesting, processing, and packaging can cause products to go wrong.
These factors make it difficult for food to reach consumers and be put into commercial waste bins. Most commercial food waste is not consumed immediately but does not rot or spoil before expiration. The amount of food wasted worldwide is equivalent to the total net production of developing and industrialised nations combined.
Moreover, many people are unaware of food waste, and the causes and solutions for its prevention are mainly unknown. In addition to the lack of consumer demand, poor handling of food by employees is the primary reason behind food waste. Some products can be considered “ugly,” but consumers are not interested in them. Improper handling and refrigeration also contribute to the loss of edible food and the creation of excess business waste and the need for business waste collections. Additionally, lack of labour means that some farmers are forced to abandon their produce, resulting in excess commercial waste.
The following tips can help prevent food waste and minimise food loss.
There are numerous ways to reduce food loss:
For example, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation provides farmers in Africa with storage facilities for their crops.
Developing these facilities can reduce losses due to insects, which account for less than 2 per cent of their production.
In 2004, the Australia Institute found that Africans waste more than £10.5 billion yearly on food.
Furthermore, inadequate infrastructure and processing methods can lead to food waste, estimated to cost over £4 billion annually in Sub-Saharan Africa. That’s enough to feed 48 million people! While many developed countries have developed solutions to reduce food waste, these are still only marginal improvements in food security and the environment. Food loss and waste are essentially the faults of human error. But addressing these problems should not be limited to these measures alone.
A multi-stakeholder approach is required:
We must reduce food waste by focusing on the farmer’s perspective.
We must consider the availability of storage, cooling, and social infrastructure.
We should increase consumer awareness about food waste.
How Much Food Waste: Human Error
Food industry operators confirm that human error is the primary cause of food loss.
This happens because employees do not have the proper knowledge or training to handle the products properly. In addition, many of these workers lack the motivation to follow FIFO principles. Lack of education and training can also lead to improper food handling. Dora et al. (2016) found that implementing appropriate management training can reduce human error. Reducing food waste would save 4.4 million tonnes of C02 a year.
How Much Food Waste: 4.4 Million Tonnes of CO2 Annually
Reducing food waste would also improve human health, as the average person consumes fewer meals when deprived of fresh and nutritious food. Food waste would reduce 4.4 million tonnes of CO2 yearly – enough to take one car off the road daily. One-quarter of all food produced worldwide is thrown away, but this figure only partially represents what is wasted. Australia’s top five wasted foods are fruits and vegetables, bagged salad, leftovers, and bread. Even though this waste is not exceptionally high, the demand for food relief has increased.
How Much Food Waste: Landfills
Uneaten food is a significant contributor to this amount. Researchers from the University of Illinois estimate that in 30 years, food waste will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 70 gigatons. This cheap climate solution would yield substantial financial and environmental benefits. It would reduce deforestation Land-use change is one of the most significant contributors to carbon emissions and is also a significant cause of biodiversity loss.
How Much Food Waste: Deforestation
Deforestation often follows a “fishbone pattern,” meaning that more forest is cleared as more of the surrounding area fills in. This process can be self-perpetuating, as the Amazon has gone from rainforest to savannah. The United States, Europe and Great Britain have analysed the issue. They estimate that if every company invested just £5 billion per year in reducing deforestation, we could cut emissions by half by 2020. The United States alone would contribute £5 billion to deforestation reduction, but this would be just one component of the £20 billion worldwide investment. This sum represents just 0.01 per cent of the U.S. budget.
How Much Food Waste: Indigenous Communities
By elevating the status of indigenous communities, we can help prevent deforestation by protecting the forest legally. Indigenous people know how to make better use of the land, and by empowering them, we can prevent further deforestation. This approach would also help reduce corruption, another major contributor to deforestation. There are many ways to reduce corruption and ensure a sustainable future for everyone. It would reduce ocean ecosystems.
How Much Food Waste: Ec osystems
Each year, 7 billion tons of food is wasted in the ocean, attracting seagulls that eat these fish. These birds threaten the balance of ocean ecosystems by stealing fish. Besides seagulls, litter also attracts larger wildlife. Wolf and brown bear populations have risen in Europe, posing a threat to humans. Marine plastic has a global impact on all ecological subjects.
It affects almost every marine ecosystem service, including fisheries, heritage, and recreation. These impacts are estimated to cost anywhere from £3300 to £33,000 per tonne of marine plastic disposed of each year. These losses are enormous. Ultimately, we destroy our oceans and compromise our health and well-being. And this isn’t even accounting for the damage caused by marine plastic.
How Much Food Waste: G lobal Warming.
In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, cutting back on the amount of food wasted would reduce global warming by 6.7 per cent, according to a recent study. Considering that one-third of all food produced worldwide is lost or wasted yearly, this amount would be the world’s third-largest greenhouse gas emitter, behind the United States and China. The resources used to produce such food create 3.3 billion tons of CO2 – a largely unknown factor. According to UNEP’s Food Waste Index 2021 report, the world currently wastes more than 17 per cent of all the food it produces each year. While some of this is lost in the farm or the supply chain, a third never reaches a consumer’s plate.
That’s equivalent to more than 23 million 40- tonne trucks full of food. To put this into perspective, if we all reduce the amount of food we waste, global warming could be reduced by between 8-10 per cent. Increasing the amount of food we produce and waste is a hugely significant problem for our planet. According to FAO estimates, the world could feed itself by cutting food loss by 60 per cent by 2050. This would significantly cut global warming by 50% and help end world hunger four times over. Furthermore, it would free up land for natural habitats and wildlife. For many people, this is a significant and critical issue.
How Much Food Waste – Learn more about UK business waste statistics here
Other useful links from our Commercial Waste Centre
Why Should Your Business Go Paperless?
Choosing a Garage Waste Management Service
Developing an EMS for Hazardous Waste
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