05 February 2021

On February 5, we celebrate the National Food Waste Prevention Day, conceived and set up in 2014 by the Zero Waste campaign proposed by Last Minute Market with the University of Bologna – Department of Agrifood Science and Technology and the Ministry of the Environment. From 2014 to the present day, the National Food Waste Prevention Day has been an opportunity to raise awareness of a central issue of our time by publicising new data from the National Waste Watcher Observatory, founded by Last Minute Market.

The 2021 edition of the event, which from 2020 will be held under the patronage of the Ministries of the Environment and Health, is dedicated in particular to the evolution of behaviour and lifestyles in relation to food waste during the Covid-19 pandemic. The special focus of the 2021 edition will be to include an international vision of commitment to prevention and reduction of waste, also in view of the goals set by the United Nations 2030 Agenda.
A detailed picture of food waste in Italy is provided by the 2020 report by Waste Watcher International Observatory on Food and Sustainability (based on IPSOS data), which shows that the Covid emergency has changed the habits of Italians and encouraged reduction of waste.

The report shows that 27 kg of food per person (529 grams per week) was thrown away in 2020, 11.78% less than in 2019. In Italy, over 222,125 tons of food have thus been saved. Overall, last year, Italians wasted 1,661,107 tons of food at home and 3,624,973 tons if you include supply chain spoilage and waste. In particular, according to the data that emerged from the report, families with children are the ones who throw away food more often (15% more than singles), as well as citizens of urban centres compared to small towns.
However, Italian families are very sensitive to this issue: 85% of them ask to enforce a legal obligation for supermarkets and companies to donate leftover food to associations that take care of people in need.

The eighth edition of the National Day against food waste, the theme of which is “Stop food waste. One health, one planet”, during an Online Forum (starting at 11.30 am today) organised as part of Last Minute Market’s Zero Waste campaign, the data related to food waste, collected by the Waste Watcher Observatory, will be presented in detail.