Trends within Sustainability in Food Loss and Waste in EU27 Countries

One third of today’s global food production ends up uneaten. In the European Union, more than 100 kilograms of food waste per capita are generated annually across retail, food services, and households. In addition to being unethical, wasting food is environmentally harmful and economically irrational. Reducing food waste would significantly contribute to protecting and more rationally using rare natural resources (water, land, forests) in agricultural production, lowering waste and related greenhouse gas emissions, and supporting a successful transition to organic agriculture and the restoration of biodiversity. Better utilisation of produced food would lower production costs and stabilise food prices, while also strengthening the population’s food security and reducing nutrition costs. The purpose of the paper is to critically review the progress (or lack thereof) made by the European Union and its Member States, tracked for the period from 2020 to 2022, according to available relevant data and sources, such as food waste per capita, food waste sector of activities and consumption footprint per inhabitant. We provide recommendations on technological, organisational, managerial, and social value changes to achieve more sustainable food waste management.