by Selina Juul, Founder of Stop Wasting Food movement Denmark
published on Friends of Europe on September 26th 2025 -
In 2025, the world is in chaos. Climate change is escalating, wars and conflicts are shaking our planet – and war criminal Vladimir Putin and former reality star Donald Trump are contributing to global instability. Some might argue we are living in the end times.
From July 2024 to July 2025, food prices in Denmark rose by 6.5%, according to figures from Statistics Denmark. Looking back over the past four years, they have increased by 31 %, which is far more than general inflation. The picture is the same in the rest of Europe. In a time of increasing food prices, wasting food is increasingly expensive. Yet, ironically, almost 60mn tonnes of food are wasted every year in the EU – that is 132 kg per person. Globally, food loss and waste results in more than US$ 1 tn in economic losses.
A silver lining: the EU takes action on food waste
Among all the bad news, there is also some positive development. On 9 September 2025, the European Parliament adopted new EU targets to reduce food waste. The updated legislation will introduce binding food waste reduction targets, to be met at the national level by 31 December 2030: 10% reduction in food processing and manufacturing, and a 30% per capita reduction in retail, restaurants, food services and households. These targets will be calculated in comparison to the amount generated as an annual average between 2021 and 2023. Following the Parliament’s request, EU countries will have to take measures to ensure that economic operators having a significant role in the prevention and generation of food waste – which will have to be identified in each country – facilitate the donation of unsold food that is safe for human consumption.
As an active member of the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste for the past nine years, I welcome this latest development from the EU. Already in 2010, the Stop Wasting Food movement (Stop Spild Af Mad), together with several European organisations and stakeholders, signed the Joint Declaration Against Food Waste – a European declaration that aimed to cut global food waste by at least 50% by 2025. It was precisely this collaboration that paved the way for the European Commission’s own resolution on targets for less food waste in 2012. It later inspired the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which were adopted in 2015 in New York – specifically, target 12.3, which calls for halving global food losses and waste by 2030.
By adopting binding food waste reduction targets, Europe is not only stepping up domestically, but also sending a powerful signal to the rest of the world that ambitious, systemic action is both possible and necessary.
Some new policy recommendations for EU member states to reduce food losses and waste include:
- Harness artificial intelligence (AI). AI is gaining ground in the food industry. We can already see this today, for example, airline company KLM has reduced its food waste by 63% by using AI, Danish food wholesaler Dagrofa Foodservice reduced waste by 112 tons, and IKEA has already more than halved its food waste, saving over 20 mn meals in four years. A new AI-powered solution, developed by Zest, is being tested by companies such as Nestlé in the UK to reduce food waste. The tool monitors and tracks wasted ingredients and products in real time and has reduced edible food waste by 87% in one of Nestlé’s factories in just a two-week trial. AI has the potential to be a real game-changer in the fight against food waste.
- Ensure continuous governmental financial support for the fight against food losses and food waste. If the fight against food waste is primarily dependent on the volunteers and well-intentioned European citizens, it risks dying out completely, especially in the turbulent times we find ourselves in. Governments should provide continuous financial support to support stakeholders, especially NGO’s and charities, in the fight against food waste.
Progress is still slow
The World Resources Institute’s Champions 12.3 2025 Progress Report: ”SDG Target 12.3 on Food Loss and Waste” shows mixed results – as progress remains slow. With only five years until 2030, the world is not on track to achieve SDG 12.3. Global reductions in food loss and waste have yet to accelerate sufficiently to achieve this ambitious target – whether by companies or countries.
However, there are bright spots. Japan has become the first country in the wold to cut food loss and waste in half compared to its base year and has now expanded its ambition to achieve even deeper reductions by 2030. Several other countries have strategies in place to fight food losses and food waste.
Company-level reductions in food loss and waste are also promising. Ingka Group (IKEA), Ajinomoto and Carrefour have already halved their food loss and waste. In September 2025, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) released ISO/DIS 20001, a draft of standardized procedures for minimising food loss and waste across the food supply chain. These standards are meant to apply to all organisations (e.g., food producers, food processors and manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, restaurants and food-related charities) within the food supply chain – and I have also contributed to this work.
Having worked on food waste for the last 17 years, I believe preventing wasted food must be a global priority. We need to shift toward a narrative that values the food we produce, ensures that people are fed and preserves the planet for generations to come.
Marking the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, let’s recognize the progress made and the work still ahead.
