The Green Party MEP for the South East has praised the targets laid out by the European Union in regards to food waste. Keith Taylor has welcomed the announcement by the European Parliament as MEPs have voted in favour of the EUâs target to reduce food waste by 30% by 2025, and 50% by 2030. These targets come as part of the Circular Economy scheme which will lead to a more sustainable use of limited resources. The aim is to create a circular economy that reduces waste and avoids pollution, making the EU economy more sustainable.
The MEPs voted to support the targets laid out by this scheme, and has also shown support for targets for marine litter, general waste recycling as well as a limit for the amount of waste that goes to landfill. The Green Party MEP has also visited the FoodShare charity based in Southampton in order to see how funding from the EU has been helping turn food waste in to nutritious meals that are served to vulnerable people.
The UK wastes £13 billion worth of household food every year. It is thought that this number is also growing, and food it wasted needlessly every year that could be put into schemes like the one run by Food Share. The latest figure showed that 7.3 million tonnes of household food waste in 2015. In 2012, that figure stood at the slightly lower 7 million tonnes. This leads to 19 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions that are associated with food waste each year. This is a section of greenhouse gas emissions that can be cut out relatively easily by not wasting food.
Adopting the new EU target on food waste could see the reduction of carbon emissions in the UK reduce by the equivalent of taking 1 in 4 cars off the road. Therefore, Theresa Mayâs decision to cut recycling targets could be incredibly damaging, to both the environment and relationship with the EU. It could be vital to keep up to date with the EUâs circular economy targets.
