UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024

To catalyse essential action towards reducing food waste and achieving SDG 12.3, it's imperative to grasp the extent of food waste.

Measuring food waste allows countries to comprehend the magnitude of the issue, thereby revealing the size of the opportunity, while establishing a baseline for tracking progress.

UNEP, as custodian of the SDG 12.3 food waste indicator, publishes a triennial report tracking country-level progress to halve food waste by 2030.

The Food Waste Index Report 2021 marked a pivotal moment in understanding global food waste across retail, food service, and household sectors. It unveiled a greater availability of food waste data than anticipated, particularly at the household level, and revealed that per capita household food waste generation was more consistent worldwide than previously thought.

The Food Waste Index Report 2024 provides the latest global estimates on food waste, occurring at retail and consumer level. 

The Food Waste Index Report 2024 builds upon its predecessor in three key ways:

1. It incorporates vastly expanded data points from around the world, providing a significantly more robust global and national estimates, detailed in Chapter 2 of the main report.
2. It expands on the SDG 12.3 food waste measurement methodology introduced in the 2021 report, offering enhanced guidance on measurement across retail, food service, and household sectors. This additional guidance delves into various methodologies, their strengths and limitations, and strategies for prioritising sub-sectors for measurement, as explored in Chapter 3.
3. The report transitions from focusing solely on food waste measurement to exploring solutions for food waste reduction. The chapter examines effective approaches to reducing food waste globally, with a spotlight on public-private partnerships in this 2024 report.

To mark the second annual International Day of Zero Waste, UNEP has launched its Food Waste Index Report 2024 (published 27 March 2024). The report provides the latest global estimates on food waste, occurring at retail and consumer level. Addressing food waste is an important facet of embracing zero waste and tackling the climate crisis. 

At the launch event (replay available on YouTube) UNEP and report authors WRAP highlighted the report’s findings and recommendations and the panel discussion explored G20 actions to deliver Sustainable Development Goal 12.3.

Report and video replay at: Read more

YouTube: https://youtu.be/KieA_WP-oi0?si=M78qhjWICkPNq1Qw