EEA report on bio-diversity in Europe

On 17 June 2020, the European Environment Agency (EEA) published a report providing an overview of bio-waste prevention, generation, collection and treatment in Europe. Bio-waste is the largest component (34%) of all municipal waste in Europe, with about 60% of this being food waste. Along the entire value chain, food waste amounts to about 173kg per EU citizen per year, corresponding to about one-fifth of all food that is produced.

The report found that preventing food waste could considerably lessen environmental impacts from food production, processing and transport, which provides greater environmental benefits than simply recycling food waste, although the report states this is still necessary. The report also notes that much more bio-waste could also be turned into high-quality fertiliser and soil improver, as well as biogas, a renewable fuel.

Source: EEA, 17 June 2020