Switzerland
According to figures from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), 30% of foodstuffs produced are discarded or allowed to go bad every year. That adds up to 1.3 billion tonnes of food produced in vain.
In the EU countries about 90 million tons end up in the garbage; that is, about 280 kg per person per year. In Switzerland the annual wastage of foodstuffs is estimated at around 1-2 million tonnes.
As much as 20% of the wastage occurs in the agricultural sector (harvest losses, discarded goods), another 40% in the course of transportation, trade and processing, and about 40% at the hands of the consumer.
There are estimates, but no reliable figures for how much food actually goes to waste in Switzerland. Claudio Beretta, a research associate at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and president of the group foodwaste.ch, devoted his master’s thesis to an examination of 43 companies in the food industry and a review of international data.
His findings: here as in other industrialised countries, about 30 per cent of the available goods go to waste at some point in the food supply chain. Nearly half of them are thrown away by consumers themselves.
In 2007, some 5.5 million tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) were generated, which equates to approx. 720 kg per inhabitant. The percentage of all MSW collected separately was 51 % or 2.8 million tonnes. In 1989, the peak year to date for MSW incineration, the figure was only 27 %. Since then, the volume of segregated MSW has more than doubled from 160 to 370 kg per person per year.
In the EU countries about 90 million tons end up in the garbage; that is, about 280 kg per person per year. In Switzerland the annual wastage of foodstuffs is estimated at around 1-2 million tonnes.
As much as 20% of the wastage occurs in the agricultural sector (harvest losses, discarded goods), another 40% in the course of transportation, trade and processing, and about 40% at the hands of the consumer.
There are estimates, but no reliable figures for how much food actually goes to waste in Switzerland. Claudio Beretta, a research associate at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and president of the group foodwaste.ch, devoted his master’s thesis to an examination of 43 companies in the food industry and a review of international data.
His findings: here as in other industrialised countries, about 30 per cent of the available goods go to waste at some point in the food supply chain. Nearly half of them are thrown away by consumers themselves.
In 2007, some 5.5 million tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) were generated, which equates to approx. 720 kg per inhabitant. The percentage of all MSW collected separately was 51 % or 2.8 million tonnes. In 1989, the peak year to date for MSW incineration, the figure was only 27 %. Since then, the volume of segregated MSW has more than doubled from 160 to 370 kg per person per year.
http://www.swissworld.org/en/environment/waste_management/landfills/
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss_news/Too_much_food_going_to_waste.html?cid=34567244
http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/dsd_aofw_ni/ni_pdfs/NationalReports/switzerland/waste.pdf
http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/dsd_aofw_ni/ni_pdfs/NationalReports/switzerland/waste.pdf
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss_news/Too_much_food_going_to_waste.html?cid=34567244
http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/dsd_aofw_ni/ni_pdfs/NationalReports/switzerland/waste.pdf
http://www.un.org/esa/dsd/dsd_aofw_ni/ni_pdfs/NationalReports/switzerland/waste.pdf