Key figures
- 1.05 billion tonnes of food wasted in 2022 (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024)
- About 19% of food available to consumers is wasted; households account for 60%
- Around 13% of food is lost between harvest and retail (FAO)
- Food loss and waste generate an estimated 8–10% of global greenhouse gas emissions
Imagine buying five bags of groceries and leaving one on the pavement as you walk home. That, in effect, is what the world does with its food. According to the UN Environment Programme’s Food Waste Index Report 2024, about 1.05 billion tonnes of food were wasted in 2022 across households, restaurants, canteens and shops — roughly 19% of all food available to consumers. On top of that, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that around 13% of food is lost in the supply chain between harvest and retail, through spoilage, damage and poor storage.
Put another way, the world wastes the equivalent of more than one billion meals every single day, while hundreds of millions of people face hunger and many more cannot afford a healthy diet.
The challenge: a hidden environmental cost
Food waste is not only a moral and economic problem. It is also a major environmental one. Every apple, loaf of bread or piece of meat that is thrown away carries a hidden footprint: the land cleared to grow it, the water used to irrigate it, the fertiliser applied to it and the energy used to process, package, transport and refrigerate it. Agriculture is the leading driver of deforestation and biodiversity loss worldwide, and it uses about 70% of the world’s freshwater withdrawals. Producing food that nobody eats multiplies these pressures for no benefit.
When food waste ends up in landfills, it decomposes without oxygen and releases methane, a greenhouse gas many times more powerful than carbon dioxide over the short term. Taken together, food loss and waste are estimated to generate 8–10% of global greenhouse gas emissions — nearly five times the emissions of the entire aviation sector. If food waste were a country, it would be one of the largest emitters on Earth.
Where the waste happens
Households are the biggest source, responsible for about 60% of the food wasted at the consumer level. Food services — restaurants, hotels, school and hospital cafeterias — account for about 28%, and retail for about 12%. The average person wastes roughly 79 kilograms of food at home each year.
Contrary to common belief, household food waste is not only a problem of wealthy countries. The UNEP report found that average household food waste differs only modestly between high-income, upper-middle-income and lower-middle-income countries. What does differ is where the losses happen. In poorer countries, more food is lost on the farm and during storage and transport, because of limited refrigeration, poor roads and a lack of processing facilities. Hotter countries tend to waste more at home, likely because food spoils faster without reliable cooling.
The reasons for household waste are familiar: buying more than we need, poor planning, confusion over date labels, large portion sizes, and a cultural preference for ‘perfect-looking’ food. In Canada, studies by organisations such as Second Harvest and the National Zero Waste Council have found that a large share of the food wasted in the country could have been eaten, costing the average household hundreds of dollars a year.
What can be done
The world has a target. Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 calls for halving per capita food waste at the retail and consumer levels, and reducing food losses along production and supply chains, by 2030. Only a handful of countries are on track, but those that have taken the goal seriously show that progress is possible. The United Kingdom and Japan have reported significant reductions in household food waste through a combination of measurement, public awareness campaigns and voluntary agreements between governments and the food industry.
Measurement comes first, because what gets measured gets managed. Businesses that track what they throw away quickly identify savings. Restaurants and cafeterias using smart scales and cameras to monitor kitchen waste have cut it significantly — often by a third or more — while saving money on purchasing. Many governments still lack reliable national data, which UNEP considers a priority.
Clearer date labels help consumers avoid throwing away safe food. Confusion between ‘best before’, which refers to quality, and ‘use by’, which refers to safety, leads people to discard perfectly edible products. Several countries and retailers are simplifying labels or removing unnecessary dates from products such as fresh fruit and vegetables, encouraging people to use their senses instead.
Redistribution gets surplus food to people who need it. France and Italy have passed laws that require or encourage supermarkets to donate unsold edible food to charities rather than destroying it. Food rescue organisations and food banks collect surplus from farms, manufacturers and stores, and apps such as Too Good To Go connect shops and restaurants with customers who buy surplus meals at a discount.
Better storage and cold chains can dramatically reduce losses for farmers in Africa and South Asia. Solar-powered cold rooms, improved storage bags for grain and small-scale processing — drying, milling or juicing produce that would otherwise spoil — raise farmers’ incomes while increasing the food supply.
What cannot be eaten should not go to landfill. Composting and anaerobic digestion turn food scraps into fertiliser and biogas, a renewable fuel, while cutting methane emissions. Quebec, like many jurisdictions, is expanding the collection of organic waste to all households and businesses for this reason. Surplus food that is unsuitable for people can often be used as animal feed.
Businesses can also rethink their practices: selling ‘imperfect’ fruit and vegetables at lower prices, offering smaller portion options, adjusting buffet practices and redesigning packaging to keep food fresh longer.
What you can do
At home, simple habits make a big difference. Plan meals and write a shopping list; check what is already in the fridge before shopping; store food correctly; freeze leftovers and bread; learn the difference between ‘best before’ and ‘use by’; and get creative with leftovers. Composting the scraps that remain closes the loop.
Wasting less food is one of those rare solutions that saves money, feeds people and cools the planet at the same time. It does not require new technology — only a new habit of treating food as the precious resource it is.
Sources
UNEP, Food Waste Index Report 2024; FAO, The State of Food and Agriculture; WRAP (United Kingdom); Second Harvest and National Zero Waste Council (Canada); Project Drawdown.
