This report concludes that while there are many existing food waste studies, they are highly variable, both in terms of geographical relevance and methodology. Much of this data is also difficult to access without negotiating with a large number of data holders with different concerns about privacy and confidentiality. For some parts of the waste stream there is a lack of sufficient data. Without a more comprehensive understanding of the food waste being generated, it is very difficult to improve the environmental performance of our waste management systems, or improve our ability to make the most use of increasingly scarce resources.
A national approach to managing and recovering resources from food waste will need to address the existing fragmentation of waste data and facilitate the development of national guidelines for food waste monitoring and reporting across each segment of the food production chain. Key priority actions resulting from this study include:
recovery.