Germany launches push to halve food waste by 2030

Published February 21, 2019
The new strategy would target households, producers, retailers and the restaurant industry to get them to cut down the 11 million tons of food wasted a year. ─ File photo
The new strategy would target households, producers, retailers and the restaurant industry to get them to cut down the 11 million tons of food wasted a year. ─ File photo

BERLIN: Germany launched a drive on Wednesday to halve food waste by 2030 as research shows every consumer on average throws away 55 kilogrammes (120 pounds) of edibles a year.

The new strategy would target households, producers, retailers and the restaurant industry to get them to cut down the 11 million tons of food wasted a year.

The new push would aim to help Germany meet UN and EU targets and reduce its climate footprint, said Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Minister Julia Kloeckner.

“Every product contains valuable resources: water, energy, raw materials, but also labour, care — and heart and soul,” she told national news agency DPA.

New research will look to develop “intelligent packaging” that could use a colour gradient to indicate whether food is still edible or past its use-by date.

Companies will be urged to take voluntary measures, such as fine-tuning delivery chains and appropriate portion sizes in restaurants, the ministry said.

The opposition Greens party, who have long urged a shift away from industrial-scale toward organic agriculture, criticised the strategy as too little too late.

Their veteran lawmaker Renate Kuenast demanded not “voluntary commitments and round tables” from the food industry but “binding obligations”.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2019

Opinion

Editorial

Beyond the surplus
Updated 20 Jul, 2025

Beyond the surplus

Long-term solution to our recurring balance-of-payments crises lies in resolving the structural gaps.
Dire straits
20 Jul, 2025

Dire straits

THE state has a major problem on its hands. The people of KP are repeatedly making it clear that they have no ...
Attack mindset
20 Jul, 2025

Attack mindset

HAVING begun Mike Hesson’s era as head coach with a convincing home Twenty20 series victory against Bangladesh,...
Rain havoc
Updated 19 Jul, 2025

Rain havoc

Thursday’s events must be seen not as an isolated disaster, but as a warning of what lies ahead.
Shattered Strip
19 Jul, 2025

Shattered Strip

THE Gaza siege has now crossed 650 days and the situation continues to take one ugly turn after another. True, even...
Battling drugs
19 Jul, 2025

Battling drugs

PAKISTAN’s war on drug trafficking has been ongoing for several years. But the country remains awash in the ...