Austrians throw away 1 million tonnes of food each year: study

A new study by the Austrian Institute for Ecology claimed Austrians throw away one million tonnes of food each year.

The author of the study Christian Pladerer and Upper Austrian Environment Councillor Rudi Anschober made the remarks during a presentation in Linz on Monday.

Conducted on behalf of the federal Environment Ministry and others such as the Chamber of Labour (AK), the survey also showed that 30 percent of food produced around the world is not eaten, and that EU-wide 89 million tonnes of food is wasted each year.

Of the one million tonnes wasted in Austria, 300,000 tonnes are thrown away by households, 250,000 by the gastronomy industry, and 100,000 by the food retail sector.

Pladerer said the remainder is wasted in the agricultural industry or during production, and that these figures exist despite at least 1.2 million Austrians living in income poverty.

On the positive side however, about 11,000 tonnes of food is donated to social care outlets and other charitable institutions annually, with about 10,000 tonnes of this ending up consumed.

The study however pointed out various areas of improvement, such as the recommendation that food be passed on more quickly, such as in the case of labelling errors, and that commercial kitchens be taken to task over wastage.

Additionally where large amounts of fruit and vegetables are concerned, steps should be taken toward improved conservation methods, the experts said.

Industry leaders meanwhile called for improved measures in logistics and networking to improve distribution of food, particularly to social care markets, that in ideal circumstances would be available to consumers on a daily basis due to shelf life of the food. Endit