FOOD WASTE IN EU COUNTRIES

The biggest challenges of our time include meeting the demand growth resulting from the explosion in population growth and achieving sustainable management. In terms of food, the most significant problem is, on the one hand, that a large part of the population is hungry and, on the other hand, excessive food waste, which results not only in wasted food but also in wasted resources used for its production, transport, packaging and storage. Do to this the unconsumed food has a profoundly negative impact on the environment and the economy. There is a pressing need to prevent and reduce food waste to transition to a resource-efficient Europe. In this study, we would like to show how food waste changes in different countries, focusing on Europe. Our results show a significant discrepancy between Member States’ data and where waste is generated. We find no significant correlation between GDP per capita and total food waste, but we find a moderately strong correlation between GDP per capita and restaurant waste at the point of generation.

当代人类面临的最重大挑战之一，在于应对人口爆炸式增长所催生的需求增长，以及实现可持续治理。在粮食领域，当前最突出的矛盾兼具两端：一方面仍有海量人口处于饥饿状态，另一方面则存在严重的食物浪费——这不仅造成粮食资源的直接损耗，还浪费了其生产、运输、包装与存储全链条所投入的各类资源。未被消费的食物由此会对环境与经济造成极为深远的负面影响。为向资源高效型欧洲转型，当前亟需防范并减少食物浪费。本研究拟聚焦欧洲地区，展示不同国家的食物浪费变化情况。研究结果显示，欧盟成员国上报的数据与实际产生食物浪费的场景之间存在显著偏差。本研究未发现人均国内生产总值与食物总浪费量之间存在显著相关性，但却发现人均国内生产总值与餐饮端产生的餐厅食物浪费之间存在中等强度的相关性。