Food waste in EU countries

Abstract

The biggest challenges of our time include meeting the demand growth resulting from the explosion in population growth and achieving sustainable management. In terms of food, the most significant problem is, on the one hand, that a large part of the population is hungry and, on the other hand, excessive food waste, which results not only in wasted food but also in wasted resources used for its production, transport, packaging and storage. Do to this the unconsumed food has a profoundly negative impact on the environment and the economy. There is a pressing need to prevent and reduce food waste to transition to a resource-efficient Europe. In this study, we would like to show how food waste changes in different countries, focusing on Europe. Our results show a significant discrepancy between Member States' data and where waste is generated. We find no significant correlation between GDP per capita and total food waste, but we find a moderately strong correlation between GDP per capita and restaurant waste at the point of generation.
 JEL code: M21

Trends and Characterization of Primary Energy Sources by Energy and Food Prices

“…Through advances in technology, alternative food and energy production techniques have been used and proposed that are capable of reducing emissions and increasing efficiency in the future [45]. Although the focus of current energy trends is on reducing emissions through reduced consumption and increased energy efficiency, the focus of current food trends is on reducing emissions through increased food consumption quality, waste reduction [46], and food efficiency. These trajectories, which are characterized by the common factor of emissions reduction, also share many similarities in terms of the impact of the geographical condition on energy and food production, as well as the economic prowess of a nation in affording efficient technologies.…”