One-third of the food grown in the world goes to waste, from causes that range from spoilage in the field to uneaten food at the dining table, according to a common estimate. A public-private partnership unveiled a standard format for measuring losses, with the dual goal of a more precise measurement of where losses occur and a spur to prevent waste in the future.
The Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard “presents the go-to methodology” that nations and businesses could use in analyzing food wastage and to gauge their progress,” said James Lomax of the UN Environment Program, one of the organizations backing the standard. The environmental group World Resources Institute called the FLW Standard “a major breakthrough” in dealing with food waste and with global efforts, such as the Paris Agreement on climate change.
According to its sponsors, the FLW Standard is the first international methodology for measuring food loss and waste, similar to the greenhouse gas protocol developed 15 years ago. “What gets measured gets managed,” said WRI’s Craig Hanson during a teleconference. Mark Little, head of food waste reduction at British merchandiser Tesco, said there is a hodgepodge of ways to measure losses and even how to define it at present.
Participants in the FLW Standard include Consumer Goods Forum, representing more than 400 of the world’s largest manufacturers and retailers; Global Green Growth Forum; World Business Council for Sustainable Development; and the Waste and Resources Action Program.