150 citizens from EU member states have presented their recommendations on reducing food waste in Europe to the European Commission in Brussels today (Sunday, February 12).
The presentations were part of the Citizen’s Panel on Food Waste, a model which brought 150 randomly selected people from across member states together to host discussions on the topic, as Europe looks to reduce the amount of waste it generates throughout food supply chains.
The process culminated in the presentation of 23 recommendations on how the EU could encourage and enforce the prevention of food waste.
These will be considered by member states as they work to meet legally binding reduction targets which will be introduced via EU legislation in June.
Suggestions included the introduction of legal frameworks around the recording and reporting of food waste generated, awareness campaigns on the difference between ‘best-before’ and ‘use-by’ dates, educational measures in schools and investment in platforms that offer and redistribute surplus food.
Three representatives from Ireland took part in the panel, one from each of the counties Cork, Galway and Dublin. They were part of ‘working group four’ alongside participants from Bulgaria, Latvia, Croatia and Germany.
They presented two recommendations on behalf of the group, both of which were the culmination of numerous debates over the course of the past three months.
Their first recommendation called for greater transparency on food waste throughout the supply chain, to increase visibility of the problem and urge more action to be taken.
It suggested that this could be achieved through a system whereby all actors in the chain are obliged to measure and report how much waste they generate and what is done with it.
“Further emphasis should also be on the need for new options for data collection as well as including the food loss in the agriculture sector.
“And the EU should also do a best practice evaluation of the different member states about their existing reporting structures and incentives as well as corrective measures,” stated the recommendation.
The group also recommended that further investment is made in scientific research on “innovative and alternative sustainable ways of packaging”.
It stated that this would improve the lifespan of products but also reduce food waste by offering different pack size options to consumers, to prevent involuntary over-purchasing of products.
“Furthermore, we recommend supporting retailers to sell food without packaging where it is possible, without compromising food security.”
Peter Carvill (28) from Rathfarnam in Co. Dublin presented the group’s recommendations to the Commission. Speaking to Agriland, he said the group spoke with the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) about challenges that farmers face, which can lead to food waste.
“There is a lot of downward price pressure and below cost selling by retailers on farmers and that really formed part of our conversation,” he said.
“Unfortunately, a ban on below cost selling didn’t make it into our final suggestions but the first recommendation on the reporting element relates to farming.
“We want to figure out how much food waste is created at that agricultural level and then pinpoint where exactly we could be more efficient,” he added.
Citizen’s Panel on Food Waste
Following the Commission’s ‘Conference on the Future of Europe’, it was decided to establish a Citizen’s Panel on Food Waste to include the voices of EU citizens in the policymaking process.
According to the Commission, the panel represents the first time in the world that an executive body has embedded citizens in its policymaking process, as this model is typically applied at parliament level.
150 people were chosen at random to take part, one third of which were between the ages of 16 and 34, with a minimum of two from each member state.
Monitoring data has shown that the EU generated 57 million tonnes of food waste in 2020, worth €130 billion, with households identified as the largest contributor to this.
In 2015, EU countries committed to halve food waste by 2030, however sufficient progress has not been made since. As a result, in June, the EU Commission will propose legally binding reduction targets, which will be based on the above figures.
Although the recommendations presented by the panel will not be included in this legislation, officials stated that they will “be extremely useful during the implementation process” in each individual member state.