The European Commission should reinstate a target to cut food waste as part of its circular economy package.
A group of NGOs have published a joint position paper, calling for “robust action on food waste” within the new regulations.
This includes standard monitoring systems for food waste from farm-to-fork, targets to reduce pre-farm gate waste, the diversion of food waste to livestock and the new EU reduction target.
A target to reduce food waste by 30% by 2025 was part of the first package, agreed back in 2014.
However, the new commission binned the proposals and, in December 2015, published “more ambitious” ones, but minus the food waste target.
The circular economy package covers everything from product design and resource efficiency to new targets for increasing recycling and reducing landfilling of waste.
NGO’s have, by and large, criticised the new proposals (CE2.0) as weaker than the initial set. The commission suggests that the plans are practical rather than Panglossian.
Last week, Scotland announced a national food waste target as part of its circular economy strategy.
