The European Parliament's Environment Committee have voted to halve all EU food waste by 2030.
And you, as Global Citizens, played a huge part.
This year, you joined over 31,000 Global Citizens to sign a petition calling on the EU to halve food waste. As part of a coalition of 47 organisations from 16 countries, led by This Is Rubbish, our voices have been amplified with one clear message: food waste must end. And people in power are listening.
Could EU halve food waste by 2030? @Europarl_EN’s environment committee will vote on new regulations on 24 January https://t.co/o6T8oLHfzipic.twitter.com/EBIAzpW2Pa
— UN Environment (@UNEP) January 19, 2017
In the EU, over 88 million tonnes of food gets wasted every single year. 15 million tonnes comes just from the UK. Yet 55 million live in food poverty, people who could be fed 9 times over from the food wasted needlessly in Europe. One third of all food produced globally is wasted, which, if redirected, could be used to feed the 870 million people on the planet who suffer from hunger.
Read More: Guess What? The UK Spends More on Food Waste Than Foreign Aid
The vote introduces targets for every EU member state to halve food waste. In an important amendment to last year’s proposals, the aims will halve food waste from primary production stage to the consumer, instead of from just retail and consumer waste. Essentially, this doubles the scope for change.
"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 Martin Bowman, This Is Rubbish campaigner.
However, Bowman highlighted a key omission from the vote.
Read More: How One Man Created a Food-Waste Empire in the United Kingdom
“But it is disappointing to see only an aspirational target adopted, rather than a more binding commitment at member state level,” Bowman added. “Binding targets are vitally needed to face the urgent challenges of climate change, land and water depletion, and food poverty."
The European Parliament votes once more on the proposal in March, at which point they have the opportunity to amend the targets to become legally binding.
However, the progress already made should certainly be celebrated. Thanks to your online action, food waste is being tackled at the highest level. We’re right on track to getting it binned for good.