More than half of food waste is produced in Basque homes, according to a 2022 study by the Basque Government’s Vice-Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Policy, through the Elika Foundation.
A new study pioneering in Spain has calculated the food waste of the entire agri-food chain in the Basque Country based on the methodology established by the European Commission (Decision 2019/1597).
In this work carried out by the Basque Government’s Vice Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Policy through the Elika Foundation, food waste throughout the entire agri-food chain has been estimated at 244,362 t/year by 2021 ( 111 kg/year per person), including both edible and inedible parts.
This amount is significantly lower than the European average, which according to Eurostat is estimated at 127 kg/person·year, for the latest available year (2020).
In particular, it can be seen that 57% comes from Basque households (63.5 kg/year per capita), of which 28% corresponds to edible parts of food. If reference is made to “Potentially Usable Materials”(1) in the production and transformation phases, the figure reaches 232,197 t/year.
Thus, the Basque Country has significant potential for improvement to achieve a 50% reduction in food waste by 2030, in line with the goals proposed in the Basque Green Deal and SDG 12.3, as well as with the new < a href="https://www.mapa.gob.es/es/prensa/220607cmleydesperdicioalimentariook_tcm30-620821.pdf">Law for the Prevention of Food Losses and Waste.
(1) Identified flows that fall outside the concept of food waste, but are considered of interest due to their opportunities for use according to the Basque strategy against food waste.