The trend in recent years is positive, with Spanish households wasting 13.2 % less food and drink than in 2020.
The number of households that did not waste any food increased by 4.4% in 2023 compared to the previous year. This confirms the positive and decreasing long-term trend in wastage compared to previous years. In 2023, Spanish households wasted 13.2% less food than in 2020.
The overall figure (waste inside and outside the home) reached 1,214.76 million kilos/litres last year, 1.1% more than in the previous year. Of this amount, 1,183.42 million kg/litre was wasted inside the home.
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The number of households that did not waste food in 2023 increased by 4.4 % compared to the previous year
On the occasion of the events being held today by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) to commemorate International Food Loss and Waste Awareness Day next Sunday, 29 September, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas, has praised the increased social awareness to avoid throwing food away, although he warned that there is still work to be done to reduce the overall figures.
According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food’s Report on Food Waste in Spain 2023, 3.9% of all food and beverages purchased for consumption inside and outside the home were wasted in the country.
Luis Planas stressed that the ministry will continue to work to reduce this percentage, because ‘Nothing is thrown away here’, as stated in the institutional campaign to prevent food waste. At the same time, he highlighted the important role to be played by the future Food Loss and Waste Prevention Act, which is currently going through the parliamentary process.
Food Loss and Waste Prevention Act
This pioneering legislation will focus on prevention and raising awareness of the need not to throw away food in society. Spain also wants to lead the way in spreading the good habit of making the most of all the food that is bought and thus become a benchmark for the rest of the countries of the European Union.
The law aims to promote good practices from primary producers, at the harvesting and collection stage, to consumers, whether at home or in bars and restaurants, as food waste occurs at all stages of the food chain.
With this new legal framework, the Spanish Government is also taking another step forward in its commitment to comply with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3, which aims to halve food waste worldwide by 2030.
According to the latest 2023 report on food waste, unprocessed products, thrown away as bought, account for 76.4% of the total, compared to wasted cooked dishes (23.6%). Even so, the waste of the latter increased by more than 2 points compared to the previous year.
In terms of food, during 2023, better use was made of fruit, vegetables and pasta – 28,520 kilos less wastage – compared to milk and dairy products, pulses and fresh meat – 4,920 kilos more wastage.
In addition, waste outside the home (31.34 million kg/l) fell by 0.4% in 2023. This continues the downward trend observed since 2021. Similarly, the percentage of consumers who wasted outside the home decreased by 4.7% compared to the previous year.
A trend that, according to the report, is due to the changing habits of Spaniards. Examples of this are the rise of teleworking, making better use of food due to rising prices and a greater awareness in society that leads to better menu planning.