Two-thirds of EU states risk missing recycling targets as food waste collection falls short
Bio-based Industries Consortium study highlights need for urgent action as 40 million additional tonnes of bio-waste need to be captured annually to meet 2035 targets
Almost 75 per cent of Europe's food waste is currently ending up in landfill or incineration, according to a new report highlighting the scale of improvement needed if EU member states are to meet upcoming recycling targets.
The Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) report, published in collaboration with Zero Waste Europe, reveals that the 2022 capture rate of food waste across the EU stood at just 26 per cent, while the capture rate for total bio-waste, including garden waste, remains under half at 46 per cent.
Two-thirds of EU member states have already received early warning reports indicating they risk missing the 2025 target of preparing 55 per cent of municipal waste for reuse or recycling, with poor bio-waste capture rates identified as a significant factor. This comes despite the implementation of mandatory separate bio-waste collection across the EU from January 2024.
Jack McQuibban, Head of Local Implementation at Zero Waste Europe, said: "We know that bio-waste remains deprioritised across much of the EU, even despite the new requirement for separate collection. Given the fact that only 26 per cent of food waste is captured across the EU, it's clear much stronger action is needed."
The report emphasises that to reach the EU's 65 per cent recycling target for municipal waste by 2035, an additional 40 million tonnes of bio-waste would need to be captured and treated annually through composting and anaerobic digestion facilities.
Several best practice examples are highlighted, including the city of Milan's door-to-door food waste collection scheme. With 1.4 million residents, Milan now captures around 105kg per capita annually of food waste alone from its primarily high-density housing – close to the estimated total generation of 120kg per capita.
The report advocates for revised EU legislation that would set legally binding targets for bio-waste quality and introduce caps on residual waste generation per capita to drive improved collection and treatment rates.
BIC Executive Director Dirk Carrez noted: "The bio-based sector is already valorising bio-waste in smart and efficient processes. A number of BIC's members are companies that use innovative methods to convert bio-waste into high-value bio-based products. More efficiently capturing bio-waste will allow more of it to be valorised in the bio-based industries."
The publication comes in the wake of the EU's implementation of mandatory separate collection of bio-waste from January 2024. However, the authors argue that an obligation alone may not be sufficient to drive the necessary improvements in capture rates, suggesting result-oriented schemes with specific performance targets may be needed.
