Belgium is second-biggest food waster in the EU

Across the EU 88 million tonnes of food are wasted each year. This means that on average citizens of EU countries waste 173kg of food each.

Belgians are the second worst offenders, wasting 345 kilos of food/annum each. Only our Dutch neighbours do worse.

A large majority of MEPs passed a resolution setting the aim of reducing food waste by 30% by 2025 (compared with 2014) and by 50% by 2030.

They intend to achieve this by information campaigns aimed at raising awareness of the issue of food waste. Better labelling of food products and the introduction of 0 VAT rating for unsold goods that are given away free because their sell-by date has expired.

Wasting food also puts a strain on other resources such as water and energy. Furthermore it increases the amount of waste that needs to be processed.

Flandersnews.be / Expatica