The latest Food Waste Index Report from the United Nations, produced in partnership with the charity WRAP, shows that food waste has skyrocketed: more than one billion meals are wasted every day and over one billion euros worth of food waste is generated worldwide every year.
According to the report, over 780 million people are currently suffering from hunger, and about a third of the world’s population is food insecure.
“Food waste is a global tragedy. Millions of people will go hungry today because food is being wasted all over the world,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, in a press statement. “Not only is this a major development problem, but the impact of this unnecessary waste also has a significant cost to the climate and nature.”
In total, about 1.05 billion tons of food waste were generated in 2022 , both edible and inedible parts, according to the report. That’s almost 20% of the food available, or enough to feed 1.7 billion people. Further, the report found that food waste reaches 132 kilograms per capita, with the most food waste (60%) generated in households, followed by 28% in food service and 12% in retail.
Worldwide, 1.6 billion agricultural hectares are used to grow food. According to the United Nations, 320 million hectares of agricultural land are used to grow food, which then ends up in the garbage. They are responsible for about 10% of global emissions, and according to the International Energy Agency, they are even more than the global carbon emissions of the aviation industry caused in 2022. Feed is grown on 33% of the world’s agricultural land. In the EU, as much as 60% (over 200 million tonnes in 2021) of the grain produced ends up in the animals’ stomachs
The huge quantities of grain required require intensive agriculture in the form of monocultures, with the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. For the majority of livestock feed produced in Europe, the problem is all the more serious because the soils themselves are poor in nutrients. An expansion of existing arable land through agribusiness, among other things to meet the high demand for meat and dairy products, is at the expense of grasslands, forests and the inhabitants of these habitats.
While the EU, especially Germany, is curbing the use of biogenic fuels on the grounds of “food safety” (plate first policy), the US is pursuing an open technology that also includes biofuels. In March of this year, a study by the U.S. Department of Energy published found that the U.S. can produce an estimated 200 million tons of low-carbon and liquid biofuels, while meeting the needs of food, feed, conventional forest products and exports without restrictions.
In view of the enormous costs to the environment, society and the global economy due to food and feed waste, we need to rethink how we can use food and cereal feed more effectively across national borders and continents.
At Biotech-Energy, we have developed a technology that makes it possible to produce 60 million tonnes of low-emission and low-cost bioethanol, convert 50 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into oxygen in the EU, avoid the use of additional agricultural land, and ensure that the food supply for people is secured without restrictions.