New Food Waste Standard

In June 2016 a new standard was released to give companies around the world an agreed set of definitions and reporting requirements for the massive problem that is food loss and waste.
Across the world it is estimated that about one third of all food grown is lost or wasted. It is thought that this equates to around $A940 billion a year and a loss of about one quarter of all the water used for agriculture. Further, it is thought that the land mass involved in growing this lost / wasted food is about the size of China.
This is a massive waste of resources and money and has been the subject of much work by many individuals, companies and government bodies worldwide.
Finally the Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard has been released.
It is in large part based on the requirements of Target 12.3 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which calls for a 50 percent reduction in the total food waste worldwide by 2030.
The new Standard aims to ensure consistency for companies and countries working toward that target.
It contains specific definitions for food loss and waste, as well as what needs to be measured and methods for doing so.
Several large multinational companies are already publicly reporting food loss and waste as part of their annual reporting and have set goals to reduce them. This new Standard will assit them and other companies with achieving their intenal goals.
The Standard is part of the Food Loss and Waste Protocal – which can be found at www.FLWQP.org
Even though this is an international standard, it something that all food business should seriously considering looking at and implementing, as food waste affects every business.