What do we see?
Food waste consists of 66% solid waste and 34% liquid waste. Coffee and tea in particular seem to make up a large amount of the waste. ‘Past its use by date’ (57%) and ‘made too much’ (30%) were the most frequently given reasons for food waste. Leftovers (54%) are also thrown away slightly more often than fresh food (46%).
Almost half of the solid food waste is thrown out with the residual waste while liquid waste is mainly poured down the sink. In both cases, the food is wasted and we therefore cannot extract any further value from it.
What’s the aim?
Food waste refers to edible food that is not consumed. We want to avoid this, especially since the product has already gone through the entire production process by that point, and the material footprint and environmental impact associated with that increases with every step of the process. The amount of household food waste is affected by various factors, like which products are bought in the shop and how they are stored and prepared.
There are no plans to repeat this study in the near future. Therefore, we will not be able to monitor the evolution of the figures. However, the results continue to be discussed as they paint a useful picture of the frequency and causes of household food waste. Based on this, the appropriate regulations can then be developed to avoid food waste and improve sorted waste collection.
What does this indicator measure?
In 2018, the Flemish government (Environmental Department) commissioned GFK to map out household food waste and investigate how and why this happens. The aim of the government was to gain more insight into household food waste. There are no plans to repeat this study in the near future. Therefore, we will not be able to monitor the evolution of the figures.
