ARTICLE: Global food waste could rise by a third by 2030 - study

Food waste could rise by almost a third by 2030 when more than 2 billion tonnes will be binned, researchers said on Tuesday, warning of a “staggering” crisis propelled by a booming world population and changing habits in developing nations.

The United Nations has set a target of halving food loss and waste by 2030. But the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) study found that if current trends continued, it would rise to 2.1 billion tonnes annually - an amount worth $1.5 trillion.

“We are seeing a real crisis at a global level,” one of the study’s authors Esben Hegnsholt told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“The amounts of waste and the social, economic and environmental implications are serious if we don’t change the trajectory. When we fight food loss and waste, we also fight hunger, poverty and global warming.”

Around a third of the world’s food is lost or thrown away each year. Currently, we waste 1.6 billion tons of food annually, worth about $1.2 trillion dollars.

Much of the projected increase was down to a swelling world population, with more people resulting in more waste, said Hegnsholt, a partner and managing director at the management consultancy.

Household waste will increase in developing countries as consumers gain more disposable income, said rhe report, which identified five key changes which it said could save nearly $700 billion in lost food.

They included more awareness among consumers, stronger regulations and better supply chain efficiency and collaboration along the food production chain.

Liz Goodwin, director of the food loss and waste program at the World Resources Institute, said the report raised serious issues but oversimplified some of the solutions.