By: Berta Redondo
From: Europatat
On 17 February, the Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the targeted revision of the Waste Framework Directive, which marks a significant step forward in addressing food waste across the EU!
Co-legislators have agreed to introduce binding food waste reduction targets to be met at national level by 31 December 2030:
- 10% in food processing and manufacturing;
- 30% per capita in retail, restaurants, food services and households.
The Commission will be tasked to set up a correction factor taking into account the impact on tourism as well as to carry out a review by 2027 to assess food waste and losses during primary production, impact of changes in production levels on the achievability of food waste reduction targets and the possibility to set new targets for 2035. The Commission will continue to support Member States in achieving the targets by sharing best practices and learning through the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste. It will also finance research and provide action grants.
Wasteless and its partners fully support the provisional agreement, which will accelerate the joint ambition to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal target 12.3 to halve per capita global food waste and reduce food losses along production and supply chains by 2030.
Next steps: The provisional agreement has now to be endorsed by the Council and the Parliament before undergoing legal linguistic revision. Once formally adopted, Member States will have up to 20 months to update their national laws to follow the new rules.
For more information, please visit EU’s dedicated website for food waste.