The food system contributes significantly to environmental impacts such as climate change, land use and biodiversity, leading to the transgression of some planetary boundaries. Over the past years, environmental impacts of the entire supply chain of food products consumed in the EU showed an increasing trend, primarily driven by animal-based products.
Adopting a system perspective under a life cycle thinking approach is crucial to foster the transition towards a more sustainable food system.
The transition to a fair, healthy, and environmentally friendly food system is strongly supported by EU policies, which set a clear direction for Europe’s food systems to become resilient, efficient, and sustainable.
Current projects
Quantifying and preventing food waste
In the EU, over 59 million tonnes of food are wasted annually per year, estimated to be worth around 132 billion euros (SWD (2023)421), with around 10% of available food going to waste.
The sustainability impacts of food waste cannot be underestimated, and waste reduction targets have been enshrined already in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target by 12.3, which calls for halving per capita food waste by 2030. The EU has put in place several policy actions to meet this target, including the Circular Economy Action Plan, Farm to Fork strategy and Waste Framework Directive.
Our work has focused on the development of food waste accounting models to estimate the quantity of food waste at each stage of the supply chain. This harmonised model (version 1.0; version 2.0; version 3.0 ) is based on the application of material flow analysis, combining official statistics on food production and trade with technical and scientific coefficients to model food waste generation.
From quantification to action
Implementing effective and efficient prevention actions is fundamental to achieve ambitious reduction targets.
In 2019, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), in collaboration with DG SANTE, launched a project to gather and evaluate food waste prevention initiatives across the EU. The initiative included the development of a comprehensive framework with key criteria and indicators, and the development of a calculator to assess the environmental and economic benefits of reducing food waste.
The Project was renewed in 2022, with a new data collection and evaluation exercise which further consolidated the knowledge base on prevention actions, uncovering emerging trends, and identifying new opportunities for intervention.
The Food Waste Prevention Calculator
Designed for stakeholders across the food supply chain, this tool assesses the impact of food waste reduction efforts. Through a consistent methodology based on life cycle thinking, it helps users quantify the nutritional benefits, economic and environmental savings associated with preventing food waste.
The tool calculates the environmental benefits, such as reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and resource use. It also helps users identify and evaluate potential trade-offs that may arise during implementation, ensuring informed decision-making.
Calculate the impacts of your own food waste prevention action here.
Tackling Food Waste in EU Households and Food Service Sectors
In the EU, 62% of food is wasted at the consumption stage, driving over 70% of the environmental impacts of food waste generation. This highlights the urgent need for focused prevention efforts in households and food service sectors.
The environmental impact is profound—food waste alone generates 252 million tons of CO2-equivalent emissions. If food waste were treated as a Member State, it would rank as the EU's fifth largest emitter.
Established by DG SANTE and the JRC, the European Consumer Food Waste Forum expert group gathered researchers and practitioners to collaborate, share evidence-based best practices and find solutions to consumer food waste. A toolkit of solutions and best practices was designed to support food chain stakeholders and policymakers at all levels to better design, implement and evaluate prevention actions. The project is closely related to the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste and was presented during a public event.
Policy support
The JRC supported the impact assessment of a legislative proposal setting legally binding EU food waste reduction targets by 2030, as part of the updated Directive 2008/98/EC on waste.
This work involved analysing public consultation feedback, reviewing current food waste prevention efforts across the food supply chain, assessing Member States' progress, and developing models to assess the economic and environmental impacts of potential reduction targets.
Modelling the EU Land Footprint
As a major global trader in bio-based products, the EU monitors its consumption’s land demands both domestically and internationally.
To this end, the JRC developed a comprehensive and transparent model to estimate the land footprint of EU consumption, distinguishing between domestic land use and “virtual” land embodied in trade.
This model, based on official data sources and updated annually, has undergone peer review, leading to key methodological refinements.
Sustainable public procurement
Public procurement holds key potential in shaping food systems towards sustainability and promoting population health. Since 2008, voluntary Green Public Procurement (GPP) criteria allow to support environmental goals at Member State level. We analysed the uptake of voluntary GPP criteria, their environmental impact as well as existing strategies integrating environmental, social and economic dimensions into Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP)., integrating economic, environmental, and social dimensions.
We also provided an overview of existing sustainable public procurement (SPP) provisions for food, food services, and vending machines in the EU. We adopted a comprehensive approach by considering the entire life cycle of food products and services, to develop a framework for analysis to highlight the most critical areas for improvement.
Other activities
We conduct extensive research to facilitate the transition to more sustainable consumption and production practices.
Sustainability labelling can be an important instrument to reduce barriers towards sustainable food consumption by increasing consumers’ information, understanding and awareness regarding the sustainability value of food products.
We also work to improve the assessment of the environmental impacts of the EU bioeconomy using life cycle assessment (LCA) tools.
Simulation models
The development of simulation models is a key component of our activities. These are described in short below, by adding reference to key publications and data sources, as well as news items, and the references to the Commission Modelling inventory MIDAS when applicable.
Consumption Footprint model
We contribute to the continuous maintenance and development of the Consumption Footprint model. Based on the EF methods, the CF represents and assesses the evolution of overall EU consumption and associated environmental impacts. In particular, the basket of products Food provides a snapshot of impacts associated with key food products.
Find out more:
WebsiteEntry in the MIDAS modelling inventory
Land footprint model
The JRC, in collaboration with Eurostat, developed a model providing annual estimates of the EU’s land footprint, i.e. the area of land needed to produce the products we consume.
The model examines over 500 food and bio-based products, and accounts for the land used in and outside the EU to grow imported products, distinguishing between cropland, grassland, and forest land (to produce timber products).
The model also re-elaborates trade data to correctly assign an imported product to the country where agricultural or forest land was used to produce it. For instance, the cropland embedded in EU imports of chocolate from Switzerland and consumed in the EU is assigned to the countries where the cocoa was originally cultivated. This approach provides a detailed view of the EU's global land use impact.
Estimates are provided from 2014-2021 and will be yearly updated on the Eurostat database.
Find out more:
News itemJRC technical report on the modelResults of the modelEurostat data browserMIDAS model entry
Food waste model
This comprehensive model estimates the generated food waste in the EU and at MS level. By integrating statistical data on production and trade with scientifically derived technical and food waste coefficients, it ensures a consistent and reliable approach to quantifying waste.
Breaking down food waste estimates by food group and across each stage of the food supply chain, the model provides insights spanning from 2003 to 2021. Its findings have been instrumental for Eurostat, enabling the benchmarking of food waste data reported by Member States as mandated by Directive EU 2018/851, and supporting informed policy decisions on reducing food waste. The model also provides detailed waste data by food group, enabling more precise calculations of food waste's environmental impact, based on the representative products of the Consumption Footprint – Food
Find out more:
Technical reports: version 1.0; version 2.0; version 3.0Results of the modelInteractive chartsMIDAS model entry
Tracking EU's Food and Beverage Packaging
This model estimates the annual packaging materials used for food and beverage consumption in 19 EU countries, covering key materials like PET plastic and glass. This model builds on data from Euromonitor International, researching consumers, services, and B2B industries, and tracks packaging by type, size, and material for 27 product categories from 2008-2022. The model supports Member States in reporting wasted quantities and recycled quantities of packaging as required by Directive 94/62/EC9 and can be used to benchmark the quantities of packaging waste.
Find out more :
Technical reportResults of the model