Cyprus Mail 6 December 2024 - by Jean Christou
Consumers end up throwing away around one quarter of all the food they buy, Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou said on Friday, urging the public to try and change their habits.
The minister was speaking at an event to mark European Week for Waste Reduction. This year’s catch-line being “Don’t Feed the Waste”.
“A large percentage of food that is discarded is usually suitable for human consumption, but unfortunately ends up in the trash, Panayiotou said.
She said that according to the annual United Nations Food Waste Index Report, more than one billion tonnes of food was wasted globally in 2022.
The majority of this waste, 60 per cent, comes from households. The hospitality sector accounts for the second biggest share, around 30 per cent.
The minister said similar figures are recorded at the European level for the same year with food waste amounting to 59.2 million tonnes, around 132 kilos per person with households once again taking the lead with 54 per cent of the total amount of food thrown away.
“Around a quarter of the food we buy for our own consumption is usually thrown away,” said Panayiotou, adding that this meant “we throw away everything that has been used in producing that food such as the water and energy”.
The minister said everyone was called upon, not to only to reduce waste but not to create it in the first place “to refuse to create it”, she said.
“Food is thrown away as a result of our behavioural patterns, lack of awareness, purchasing habits and various other factors.”
The solution was to change mentality and to adopt the mindset of the “circular economy”, Panayiotou said.
Food waste, she added, was a global problem with economic, social and environmental aspects.
It can be reduced through prevention and reduction, repair, reuse and recycling, giving value to the waste by putting it back into the production cycle – the last option being recovery and final disposal.
“Let us all become circular citizens,” said Panayiotou.
Together we all have the power to achieve this, for the benefit of our children and the environment so let’s change our habits,” she concluded.
Environment Commissioner Antonia Theodosiou who attended the event said it was a basis truth that the planet could no longer withstand overconsumption as it was inextricably linked to “the reckless management of its natural resources”.
“The theme of this year’s campaign is a challenge for all of us, from government agencies to consumers, from businesses, local governments to households, ourselves,” she said.
“Nature does not produce waste; everything is a useful resource for another organism. Similarly, in the human world, the circular economy transforms waste from a problem into a resource, while also achieving economic benefits,” she concluded.
