Module 2
In 2022, more than one billion tonnes of food was thrown away worldwide. This corresponds to an average of 132 kg per person, or nearly one third of all food produced worldwide.
UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), Food Waste Index Report, 2024
Food Waste Index Report 2024 | UNEP – UN Environment Programme Food waste in the EU
Eurostat 2024, data for 2022
– Statistics Explained – Eurostat, Data extracted in September 2024
Food waste – what is it?
FAO, Global Food Losses and Food Waste, 2011 Global food losses and food waste
Module 3
In 2022, 60% of global food waste came from households, 28% from catering (restaurants, canteens, etc.) and 12% from retail.
UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), Food Waste Index Report, 2024
Food Waste Index Report 2024 | UNEP – UN Environment Programme
From field to bin
Eurostat 2024, data for 2022
– Statistics Explained – Eurostat, Data extracted in September 2024 Where does food loss and waste occur?
All causes are based on official data from Eurostat 2022/2023, the European Commission portal, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and additional publications (including KCB).
Module 4
Losses by category in the EU (2021-2022)
European Commission – JRC, Estimating food waste generated and packaging placed on the market at national level – Food waste model updates version 3.0, 2024
JRC Publications Repository – Estimating food waste generated and packaging placed on the market at national level
Products ending up in the bin
Meat and charcuterie waste in Germany Heinrich Böll Foundation, Meat Atlas, 2021
Fleischatlas 2021: Data and facts about animals as food
Module 5
Between 713 and 757 million people worldwide suffered from chronic hunger in 2023.
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/hunger/?utm (The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World), FAO’s 2023 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World – 23 July 2025
59% of people suffering from acute hunger live in sub-Saharan Africa https://www.globalhungerindex.org/pdf/en/2023/policy-brief-africa.pdf?utm – 23
July 2025
Asia has the largest total number of undernourished people in the world https://www.worldhunger.org/asia-hunger-facts-2018/?utm – 23 July 2025
In Latin America, hunger has been on the rise again since 2015.
https://www.fao.org/americas/news/news-detail/In-one-year-4-million-people- were-thrust-into-hunger-in-Latin-America-and-the-Caribbean-/en?utm – 23.07.2025
45 million children under the age of 5 suffer from acute malnutrition
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malnutrition?utm – 23.07.2025
Hunger has been on the rise again worldwide since 2015 https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/hunger/?utm – 23.07.2025
Around 80% of people suffering from hunger live in rural areas.
https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/396b71a7-dad0-46de- a816-8eaba1f39a94/content – 23.07.2025
Around one third of all food produced worldwide is wasted.
https://www.ucdavis.edu/food/news/why-is-one-third-of-food-wasted- worldwide?utm – 23.07.2025
Europe and North America throw away between 95 and 115 kg of food per person every year.
https://www.globallandscapesforum.org/infographic/high-cost-of-food- waste/?utm – 23 July 2025
Around one third of all food produced worldwide is not consumed, which corresponds to around 1.3 trillion tonnes of food.
https://www.fao.org/platform-food-loss-waste/resources/multimedia/video/fao- food-policy-series-food-loss-and-waste/en?utm – 23 July 2025
EU countries wasted over 58 million tonnes of food in 2021
https://www.eufic.org/en/food-safety/article/food-waste-in-europe-statistics- and-facts-about-the-problem?utm – 23.07.2025
In Germany, around 11 million tonnes of food end up in the bin every year
https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-en/service/archive/halving-food- waste-1582700?utm – 23.07.2025
Food is often thrown away because it does not meet aesthetic standards.
https://cases.open.ubc.ca/insistence-on-cosmetically-perfect-fruits- vegetables/?utm – 23.07.2025
Calorie consumption in industrialised countries is significantly higher than required.
https://www.fao.org/4/y4252e/y4252e04.htm?utm – 23.07.2025 The food wasted worldwide could feed around 1.26 billion people United Nations World Food Report 2022, FAO 2023
Map 3
World Agriculture: Towards 2015/2030 – An FAO perspective https://www.globallandscapesforum.org/infographic/high-cost-of-food- waste/?utm
Module 6
Greenhouse gas emissions from food loss and waste are enormous.
Zhu, J., et al., Cradle-to-grave emissions from food loss and waste represent half of total greenhouse gas emissions from food systems. Nature Food, 2023. 4(3): pp. 247-256.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-023-00710-3.epdf The other ecological consequences are just as disastrous.
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Food wastage footprint: Impacts on natural resources. Summary report, FAO, 2013
https://www.fao.org/4/i3347e/i3347e.pdf
Module 7
Knowledge protects against waste
FAO-UNEP Guide “Prevention and reduction of food and drink waste in households and the retail, hospitality and food service supply chains – Guidance”, 2013
Lack of purchasing planning Losses from field to plate: food waste in the value chain and in consumption, Waskow Frank, 2018
Best before date Deutsche Umwelthilfe, Reducing food waste – Identifying obstacles and eliminating them effectively – A guide for food companies and policymakers, 2023
Incorrect storage WWF, Das große Wegschmeissen, 2015
Spontaneous purchases and special offers University of Stuttgart Institute for Hydraulic Engineering, Water Quality and Waste Management, Estimation of food waste quantities and proposals for reducing food waste in Germany, 2012
Aesthetic codes Hartmann, Jahnke, Hamm Making ugly food beautiful: Consumer barriers to purchase and marketing options for suboptimal food at retail level – A systematic review, 2021
What is your approach to saving food? In 2022, 54% of all food waste in Europe came from private households. Eurostat, Food waste and food waste prevention – estimates, 2024