Europe’s Food Industry Confederation Urges MEPs to Strengthen Waste Legislation

23 Jan 2017 --- Ahead of the European Parliament vote on revised food waste legislation, FoodDrinkEurope is strengthening its position and encouraging the continent’s food and drink manufacturers to reaffirm their commitment to cut down on food waste in their own operations and all parts of the supply chain.

And the food industry confederation is encouraging Members of the European Parliament to support several points key to the fight against food waste.

These include implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on food waste and an EU food waste reduction target, aligned with the SDG target of 50% reduction by 2030, throughout the food supply chain.

Food and drink manufacturers across member states have already set a mid-term objective of halving food waste by 2025, building on the  ‘Every Crumb Counts’ objectives and aligning with the Consumer Goods Forum Food Waste Resolution.

MEPs are also encouraged to develop a common EU food waste measurement methodology aligned with the global Food Loss and Waste Protocol. To this end, FoodDrinkEurope supports the recently set up Food Loss and Waste Platform by the European Commission, where a measurement framework will be further discussed.  

Late last year FoodIngredientsFirst reported on the EU’s new food waste action plan which includes examining the “best before” label and how consumers understand this, facilitating food donations, valorizing former foodstuffs and by-products as animal feed, developing a common EU methodology and establishing an EU platform on food losses and waste. 

FoodDrinkEurope is also calling for an establishment of a Food Waste Hierarchy: Under the umbrella of its food waste prevention campaign ‘Every Crumb Counts’, FoodDrinkEurope together with stakeholders across the food supply chain proposed a food waste hierarchy. When food is unable to stay within the human food chain and be redirected to feed people, the optimal solution will depend on a case by case evaluation.

A food waste definition that engages the whole food supply chain and focuses on prevention of food intended for human consumption from going to waste by maximizing the value of raw materials and by allowing more materials to remain products or to be classified as by-products, is also being called for. 

And lastly, facilitation and awareness to increase the number of food donations as a means of redistributing food surpluses and to help people in need. The European Federation of Food Banks and FoodDrinkEurope, with the support of EuroCommerce, launched practical food donations guidelines to this end, ‘Every Meal Matters’. FoodDrinkEurope also supports the Commission’s current efforts to develop guidelines to promote a common interpretation of EU legislation, applicable to food redistribution among EU Member States.

All stakeholders across the food supply chain should continue to take measures and raise awareness about the importance of food waste prevention, encourage cross sector and sector-specific initiatives to further reduce food waste and use natural resources more efficiently, says FoodDrinkEurope.

In view of the upcoming vote in the European Parliament on the draft report of the revised EU Waste legislation, Europe’s food and drink manufacturers reaffirm their commitment to integrate food waste prevention and resource efficiency into their own operations and all parts of their supply chain.