EU households waste 17 billion kg fresh fruit & veg a year

A recent JRC article finds that EU households generate 35kg of fresh fruit and vegetable waste per person per year, 14kg of which is avoidable. Fresh fruit and vegetables are almost 50% of the EU household food waste. This seems logical, as they constitute 1/3 of total food purchases, are principally not 100% edible, are perishable and relatively low-priced. However, the JRC study found that the avoidable waste could be reduced by applying targeted prevention strategies, and that the unavoidable waste (inedible parts) could be more sustainably managed at the manufacturing stage and recycled for use in the circular economy (News Item European Commission, 13 August 2018).
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Click here for the article published in Waste Management (1,014 kB).
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