Brussels believes that food waste in those sectors should initially be reduced by 10 percent, and in retail, hospitality, and households by 30 percent.
This new obligation is, according to caretaker Agriculture Minister Piet Adema, significantly less than the 50 percent (for retail and consumer) target that the Netherlands and other EU countries currently apply. Therefore, EU countries will be allowed to maintain their existing regulations in addition to the EU requirement.
The Netherlands also believes that the target should apply to the primary sector, such as agriculture, horticulture, and livestock farming. The European Commission is currently not willing to do so. However, in response to Adema’s argument, Food Commissioner Stella Kyriakides and Spanish President Luis Planas indicated that targets for agriculture and horticulture may become possible in a few years.
According to the Commission, food waste in agriculture such as crop failures is usually unavoidable. Moreover, there are no scientifically established figures yet. The European Commission states that it is known that most (70%) waste occurs in processing, retail, hospitality, and households, and therefore a target for agriculture is of secondary importance.
The Netherlands furthermore believes that agriculture should keep its own records of food production losses. ‘This is to protect the sector from shifting waste responsibility to actors further down the chain, in line with the successful Dutch voluntary monitoring,’ Adema stated.
Eurostat says that about 89 million tons of food (131 kilograms per inhabitant) are thrown away annually in the EU countries. In the Netherlands, an average of 34.3 kilograms of edible food per person is discarded, of which just under five kilograms are still untouched, in peel or packaging. In total, households waste nearly 10 percent of their weekly purchases, with an average value of 120 euros per person per year.