Call for applications for European Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste

The need to prevent and reduce food waste, while ensuring the safety of the food and feed chain, is a subject of growing societal, economic, environmental and political interest. According to the most recent assessment of food waste levels published by the EU-funded research project, FUSIONS, around 88 million tonnes of food waste are produced in the EU-28 each year, amounting to an estimated 143 billion euros. The equivalent of 20% of total food produced in the EU is considered to end up as food waste while it is estimated that 55 million people in the EU are not able to afford a quality meal every second day (Eurostat, October 2015).

The EU and Member States are committed to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by all global actors in 2015, including a target (SDG 12.3) to halve per capita food waste at the retail and consumer level by 2030, and reduce food losses along the food production and supply chains. In its Communication and Action Plan to promote Circular Economy (COM(2015)614), the Commission has singled out food waste prevention as a priority area.

In order to support achievement of the SDG 12.3 target on food waste, the Commission will establish a Platform dedicated to food waste prevention, bringing together all relevant actors: national administrations in the EU-28 and EFTA countries, EU bodies, international organisations and actors in the food value chain including consumer and other non-governmental organisations. The EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste (FLW), established as part of the action plan to promote Circular Economy, aims to support all actors in: defining measures needed to prevent food waste; sharing best practice; and evaluating progress made over time.

A call for applications for private sector organisations with expertise in food waste prevention to establish, together with public entities, the European Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste (FLW) has opened today and will run until 27 May 2016. All relevant information and documents are available on the dedicated web page.