Food Waste [Factsheet]

UNEP’s Food Waste Index found that 931 million tonnes of food, or 17 per cent of total food available in 2019, went into the waste bins of households, retailers, restaurants and other food services. Wastage squanders the natural and financial resources used to produce the food. Fare that ends up in landfills feeds climate change, weighs on local government budgets and forgoes an opportunity to build circular economies. COVID-19 has had profound impact on food consumption – recovery plans can thus help lock-in positive food behaviors. The Food Systems Summit is an opportunity to scale up action.