Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

E2: Environmental statistics and accounts; sustainable development

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ESTAT WASTE STATISTICS <ESTAT-WASTE-STATISTICS@ec.europa.eu>

Commission delegated decision (EU) 2019/1597 shall apply by stages of the food supply chain, as indicated in its ANNEX I (Attribution of food waste to the different stages of the food supply chain); the stages are including the sections of  NACE rev. 2  activities, as in the following scheme:

Primary production (A01_A03_FOOD):

• Section A Agriculture, forestry and fishing:
  • Division 01 Crop and animal production, hunting and related service activities
  • Division 03 Fishing and aquaculture

Processing and manufacturing (C10_C11):

• Section C Manufacturing
  • Division 10 Manufacture of food products
  • Division 11 Manufacture of beverages

Retail and other distribution of food (G46_G47_FOOD):

• Section G Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles
  • Division 46 Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles
  • Division 47 Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles

Restaurants and food services (I55_I56_N-S_FOOD):

• Section I Accommodation and food service activities
  • Division 55 Accommodation
  • Division 56 Food and beverage service activities
• Sections N, O, P, Q, R, S
  • Divisions covering activities in which food services are provided (such as staff catering, healthcare, education, travel catering)

Households (HH):

• ‘Households’ as referred to in Annex I Section 8 point 1.2 to Regulation (EC) No 2150/2002 on waste statistics: Waste generated by households

According to article 2 of Commission delegated decision (EU) 2019/1597 Member States shall measure each year the amount of food waste generated in a full calendar year (article 2 point 1) and the amounts of food waste shall be measured in tonnes of fresh mass.

The indication of these amounts is provided under the code Waste collected (COL) under indicator Waste management operations.

The reporting covers only food waste; food waste consists of parts of food intended to be ingested (edible food) and parts of food not intended to be ingested (inedible food). Food waste is any food that has become waste under these conditions:

1. it has entered the food supply chain,
2. it then has been removed or discarded from the food supply chain or at the final consumption stage,
3. it is finally destined to be processed as waste.

Food losses occurring before crops and/or animals become “food” (occurring at the stage prior to crops being harvested or during the rearing of animals) are not accounted for as food and hence are not quantified as “food waste”. These may include:

• crops not harvested
• unharvested fruit and vegetables ploughed directly into the fields,
• death of animals before slaughtering,
• food that cannot enter the food supply chain due to food safety requirements (e.g. contamination),
• fishes or fish parts discarded off board in the sea or rivers before reaching the port

1. Definitions

According to Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC), article 3, point 4 a, “food waste means all food as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council that has become waste”; in simple words, food waste is any food and inedible parts of food, that has entered in the food supply chain, that then has been removed or discarded from the food supply chain or at the final consumption stage, that is finally destined to be processed as waste, either separately collected as food waste or collected in municipal waste; moreover, food waste is any food, and inedible parts of food, removed from the food supply chain to be recovered or disposed

Commission delegated decision (EU) 2019/1597 summarises in point 3 of the recital that food waste does not include losses at stages of the food supply chain where certain products have not yet become food.

2. Statistical concepts

The methodology for food waste is defined in Commission delegated decision (EU) 2019/1597 article 2, Annex III and Annex IV:

Member States shall measure the amount of food waste for all stages of the food supply chain using the methodology set out in Annex III of at least every four years, as stated in its article 2 point 2.

Annex III (Methodology for the in-depth measurement of food waste) foresees the use of one or more of these methodologies, by stages of the food supply chain:

• "Direct measurement" and/or "Waste composition analysis": for all stages of the food supply chain
• "Mass balance": for stages "Primary production", "Processing and manufacturing" and "Retail and other distribution of food"
• "Questionnaires and interviews" and/or "Coefficients and production statistics": for stages "Primary production" and "Processing and manufacturing"
• "Counting/scanning": for stages "Retail and other distribution of food" and "Restaurants and food services"
• "Diaries": for stages "Restaurants and food services" and "Households"

For the first reporting year (reference year 2020) Member States may use data already collected under existing arrangements for the year 2017 or later (article 2 point 4).

Finally, article 2 point 3 permits the use of the methodology set out in Annex IV when the methodology set out in Annex III is not used.

The statistical unit is the reporting company or institution. Statistical unit may vary across reporting countries. Reporting units might be: producers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, enterprises, food services, restaurants, local units, establishments, waste managers or households, etc.

Food waste amounts, disaggregated by stages of the food supply chain, generated within a country per year.

EU Member State and, on a voluntary basis, EEA/EFTA countries and other countries or regions.

Data on food waste from reference year 2020 onwards.

Not applicable.

1) Tonnes of fresh mass,

2) Kilogram per capita, based on the annual average of the population: table ‘Demographic balance and crude rates’ (demo_gind), demographic indicator: average population – total (indic_de=AVG).

The reference period is the calendar year.

Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) establishes an annual reporting obligation on measurements of the levels of food waste (article 9 in points 1g, 5, 6 and 8).

Commission delegated decision (EU) 2019/1597 defines the common methodology and minimum quality requirements for the uniform measurement of levels of food waste.

Commission implementing decision (EU) 2019/2000 provides the reporting format.

There is no data sharing with other international organizations; international organizations can use the data as published in the dissemination database.

Regulation (EC) No 233/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

The Member States are responsible for the confidentiality treatment of their data (primary and secondary). Currently, there are not confidential data in the database. In case of confidentiality claims, confidential data is not treated: the cells appears as missing with a confidentiality flag.

There is no release calendar, data dissemination is explained in item 9 below.

See 8.1.

In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.

Data received by 30 of June, 18 months after the end of the reference period (T+18; where T = reference year), will be published four months later T+22). An update of the dataset may be done in December (T+24) and/or in March of the following year (T+27), according to availability of revisions.

Food waste: 127 kg per inhabitant in the EU in 2020

Statistics Explained article: Food waste and food waste prevention - estimates

Please consult free data on-line:

Food waste and food waste prevention by NACE Rev. 2 activity - tonnes of fresh mass (env_wasfw)

Database - Waste - Eurostat (europa.eu)

Not applicable, there are no micro data.

Dedicated website on waste statistics:

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/waste

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat

The methodology for food waste is defined in Commission delegated decision (EU) 2019/1597 article 2, Annex III and Annex IV.

Detailed information on the implementation of the methodology are available in the Guidance on reporting of data on food waste and food waste prevention according to Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2019/2000.

Additional guidance on reporting is provided here.

Reporting countries submit, together with the completed tables, an appropriate description of how the data have been compiled. That description shall also give an explanation of estimates and of definition differs.

The original data collection is made by the Member States, while Eurostat collects and checks the assembled country compilations. The quality assurance and documentation of the quality is a joint responsibility of Eurostat and the Member States.

Certain data format checks are carried out during the data entry into the country questionnaire. The validation routines at Eurostat include checks related to consistency, plausibility, development over time as well as the analysis of the Quality report with regard to the methodology applied for the gathering of the reported data; in case further explanations are required, countries will receive requests of clarifications and are invited to insert additional information in the Quality report.

A validation report is submitted each year to the European Commission DG Sante, as the responsible body for the monitoring of the implementation of the Commission delegated decision (EU) 2019/1597.

Overall data are of good quality. Data are collected from reliable sources applying high standards with regard to the methodology and ensuring a high degree of comparability.

Main users are: the European Commission (for purposes of monitoring waste legislation), the Council, the European Parliament, researchers, politicians, general public, etc.

Data is collected according to the obligations set out in the Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) and in the Commission delegated decision (EU) 2019/1597

More information on the policy context can be found here:

• Food waste
• EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste

No systematic user satisfaction survey has been conducted. User satisfaction is discussed with the main user from the European Commission.

Reporting is mandatory and the dataset has a high level of completeness.

See sections 10.7 and 11.1.

Not applicable

Not applicable

Data have to be submitted 18 months after the reference period (T+18). The delay between the reference period and the data publication is about 22 months (T+22).

Data have to be submitted 18 months after the reference period.  Most countries do respect this deadline, some countries deliver with a small delay. In a few cases the delay may be more than 6 months.

The comparability across countries is good due to clear statistical concepts and definitions.

Reporting is mandatory, comparability over time is expected to be high already from reference year 2020.

Not available

Internal coherence is ensured by Eurostat thus aggregates are coherent with sub-aggregates.

Not applicable

All published data should be regarded as final unless indicated as provisional. Correction of errors is possible. Data revision calendar: December (T+24) and March (T+27).

See section 17.1

Competent authorities, like Ministries of Environment or of Agriculture, or Environmental Protection Agencies and/or national statistical institutes collect data from various sources:

• Producers, Manufacturers, Retailers, Distributors or any small and medium food business enterprise.
• Administrative sources such as municipalities or other local authorities (provinces, regions, etc.), waste collectors at municipal/local level, waste treatment facilities.
• Waste reporting electronic registries (usually for mandatory reporting)
• Volunteers (mainly for households food waste)

Annual

Data collection is done by reporting countries, either the Ministry of Environment or of Agriculture, or Environmental Protection Agencies.  

Member States are transmitting data via questionnaires through EDAMIS.

The EDAMIS workflow for food waste is WASTE_FOOD_A.

The Member States also transmit a quality report included in the questionnaire, where mandatory information must be reported.

Data validation is done by Eurostat in close cooperation with Member States' competent Authorities. Certain data format checks are carried out during the data entry into the questionnaire. The validation routines at Eurostat include checks related to consistency, plausibility, development over time as well as the analysis of the Quality report with regard to the methodology applied for the gathering of the reported data; in case further explanations are required, countries will receive clarification requests and are invited to insert additional information in the Quality report. In case, Member States can transmit revisions of data and information with the questionnaires. At present, the dissemination database contains exclusively fully validated country data, including explanations for outliers, definition differs and estimations.

The average population for the calculation of kg per person is taken from the table "Demographic balance and crude rates" (demo_gind, indic_de=AVG) in Eurobase.

When data are available from all the countries, the European aggregates are calculated by adding up the national waste amounts (in tonnes of fresh mass). Estimated EU aggregates are compiled when the available countries represent at least 60% of the population and 55% of the number of countries defining the aggregate; for the first reporting year (2020) the estimates, disaggregated by each stage of the food supply chain, have been calculated by summing the data amounts from the published countries and divided by the sum of the population of the published countries, and finally multiplied by the EU population. The formula is hereby summarised:

EU (by stage) = [SUM(published countries, by stage)/SUM(population published countries)]*(Total EU population)

The data are not adjusted; they are rounded to tonnes, or kilograms per capita, respectively.