As many as a billion tons of food end up in the trash every year, which represents 17 percent of all food sold. According to a UN study, it is mostly wasted mainly at home. The Czechs are slightly better than the global average.
Households waste the most
If household food were filled with trucks with a capacity of 40 tons, their line would run around the earth seven times. On a global average, one household member throws away 74 kg of food. The Czech Republic is doing a little better than the rest of the world with 70 kilos per person per year. In total, Czech households throw away 747,000 tons of food a year.
The study was based on data for 2019, monitoring retail sales, restaurants and households. It collected data in 54 developed and developing countries. According to the results, it modeled the state for the whole planet. According to the study's calculations, 931 million tons of food are discarded annually.
Developed versus developing countries
The assumption that the issue of food waste mainly concerns developed countries was not been confirmed. Unnecessary food discards affect all regions of the world, even though, according to the UN, almost 700 million people on Earth suffer from hunger and three billion people do not have access to a quality healthy diet.
In addition to tackling poverty, food also affects the environment worldwide. It accounts for up to 10% of total emissions, which support the climate crisis and the associated pollution and biodiversity loss.