Food waste in the Netherlands and Belgium: the numbers
How big is the food waste problem really? The figures differ per study, but the order of magnitude is the same everywhere: enormous. These are the key numbers for the Netherlands, Belgium and the world.
Worldwide
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), roughly a third of all food produced worldwide is lost or wasted. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that food loss and waste together account for around 8 to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. That makes food waste a climate problem too.
The Netherlands
Dutch consumers throw away over 30 kilos of solid food per person per year at home, according to measurements by the Netherlands Nutrition Centre and Wageningen University & Research. Across the whole chain (from farm to fork) the Netherlands wastes an estimated 2 billion kilos of food per year. The products most often binned at home: bread, vegetables, fruit and dairy.
Belgium
The figures in Belgium are substantial as well. In Flanders alone, estimates by the Flemish government put food loss and food residue streams at roughly 900,000 tonnes per year across the chain. As in the Netherlands, bread, vegetables and fruit are the biggest items in households.
What can you do about it?
At home you make the biggest difference by shopping smart, storing food properly and using leftovers. Beyond that, you can rescue surplus at local businesses: via YumBite, bakeries, restaurants and supermarkets in the Netherlands and Belgium sell their daily surplus as a YumBox at a minimum 40% discount.
Run a business yourself? Then your surplus is revenue, not waste: you sell it through the app instead of throwing it away.
Reserve a YumBox at a minimum 40% discount via the YumBite app at app.yumbite.nl.