{"id":696,"date":"2017-01-30T18:12:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-30T17:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umweltperspektiven.ch\/?p=696"},"modified":"2022-02-09T11:10:13","modified_gmt":"2022-02-09T10:10:13","slug":"300000-tonnen-food-waste-verhindern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.organisator.ch\/en\/sustainability\/2017-01-30\/300000-tonnen-food-waste-verhindern\/","title":{"rendered":"Prevent 300,000 tons of food waste"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In the food industry, 300,000 tons of food waste could be avoided annually.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organization FAO, around one third of the food produced worldwide is lost. The same amount is assumed for Switzerland, which corresponds to about 300 kg per capita and year. Food waste is defined as food that has been produced for human consumption and is lost or thrown away on its way from the field to the plate.<\/p>\n

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A total of 2.3 million tons of food are thrown away in Switzerland every year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Federal Office for the Environment FOEN, in cooperation with the industries, has been calculating food waste figures for four years, pursuing three goals:<\/p>\n

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  1. Food losses in Switzerland are to be quantified; broken down into the individual areas of food production.<\/li>\n
  2. The figures are intended to provide information on whether these losses are avoidable or not. Avoidable losses are food scraps that would be edible at the time of disposal and if used in a timely manner. Examples include plate scraps, produce not accepted by the marketplace such as stained apples, or byproducts such as buttermilk. Unavoidable food waste includes inedible parts, such as peels and bones, or arises during food preparation (grub waste).<\/li>\n
  3. Finally, they want to have detailed information on which industries are incurring the losses.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Reasons for the losses in the food industry<\/b><\/p>\n

    The Swiss food industry produces 2.3 million tons of food and semi-finished products per year. This is what the FOEN found in its latest study \"Organic losses from the food industry in Switzerland\". <\/a>was determined. Across all eight main sectors (e.g. grain processing, cocoa and coffee or dairy products), losses amount to around 500,000 metric tons. 125,000 tons of these losses, a good quarter, are inedible components such as bones or peeling waste.<\/p>\n

    Three quarters of the losses concern edible ingredients. The amount is 375,000 tons or 14% of total food production. Two main causes dominate:<\/p>\n