The European Parliament has adopted targets for all member states to halve food waste.
Voting in the EU’s Circular Economy Package, which sets out provisions for sustainable economic growth, MEPs approved an ambitious target to cut food waste in half by 2030. However campaigners say this doesn’t go far enough.
“We welcome this landmark vote to halve EU food waste by 2030, which is a huge victory for our campaign and the food waste movement,” said This is Rubbish campaigner Martin Bowman. “But it is disappointing to see only an aspirational target adopted, rather than a more binding commitment at member state level. Some forms of food losses on farms are also excluded from the targeted reduction. We are calling on the European Parliament and Council to support a truly binding food waste reduction target. Binding targets are vitally needed to face the urgent challenges of climate change, land and water depletion, and food poverty.”
A petition calling for the target to be made binding had been backed by more than 59,000 people ahead of today’s landmark vote, and was submitted to MEPs.
“This is a significant vote because for the first time we have a really clear, shared plan of how food waste can be reduced and prevented,” added Friends of the Earth campaigner Kierra Box. “However, if we’re serious about slashing food waste we need to stop aiming for change and instead make it happen.
“It was a lost opportunity that today’s targets aren’t binding, which means countries can wriggle out of their commitments.”
● Check out more on The Grocer’s Waste Not Want Not campaign here
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