Europatat participates in joint initiative to tackle food waste: ‘Every Crumb Counts’

Representatives from across Europe?s food supply chain have today announced the launch of a joint effort to tackle the major societal problem of food wastage via the publication of their Joint Declaration entitled, “Every Crumb Counts”.

Launched at an event in Brussels in the presence of distinguished speakers from the European Parliament, the European Commission, a number of NGOs and industry representatives, co-signatories of the Declaration aim not only to work towards preventing edible food waste but also to promote a lifecycle approach to reducing wastage and to proactively input into European, national and global solutions and initiatives in this area.

With the long-term sustainability of the food chain foremost in mind, and conscious of the global environmental impact of food disposal such as an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, co-signatories commit to contribute to the objective of reducing food wastage throughout the entire food supply chain, in line with the European Commission?s goal of halving edible food waste by 2020, set out in the Europe 2020 Flagship Initiative „A resource-efficient Europe?. Furthermore, the Joint Declaration explores how new markets and better food recovery can contribute to economic growth.

Lending his support to the initiative, Matthias Groote MEP, Chair of the European Parliament?s Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee, said: "Food wastage does not only have a big impact on the global food situation, but also significant economic and ecologic consequences. I welcome the launch of the Joint Stakeholder Declaration which seeks to raise awareness of food waste and of solutions to tackle this issue, and of the presentation of the new online toolkit for manufacturers. Policymakers, companies and consumers all have to be part of the solution".

Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Frédéric Rosseneu, Secretary-General of Europatat, emphasised the importance of the initiative: “We recognise the importance of the current societal and political debate regarding food wastage. Whilst potatoes which cannot be sold fresh are generally used for processing or animal feed, our involvement in the Joint Declaration aims to raise further awareness about the issue and to exchange best practices in the supply chain and towards the consumer."

Co-signatories to date include:

• FoodDrinkEurope;
• The European Federation of Food Banks (FEBA);
• EUROPEN (The European Packaging Supply Chain);
• FoodServiceEurope (The contract catering sector in Europe);
• The Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA);
• Freshfel Europe (The European Fresh Produce Association);
• Europatat (European Potato Trade Association);
• EuPC (The European Plastics Converters);
• ERPA (The European Rigid PVC-Film Association)
• EuPET (The European Association unoriented Polyester Films).

Supporters to date include:

• WRAP;
• Wageningen University
• Think-Eat-Save (A campaign of the ‘Save Food Initiative’)

Source: Europatat