Private households, industry, retailers and the catering sector discard almost 11 million tonnes of food waste in Germany each year, according to a study conducted by the University of Stuttgart which was presented by agriculture minister Ilse Aigner in Berlin on Tuesday.
The study found that private households generate 61 per cent of the total food arisings, with the catering sector and industry accounting for 17 per cent each. This means that households discard a total amount of 6.7 million tonnes of food waste annually, which corresponds to average arisings per resident of 81.6 kilogram. Nearly two thirds of this waste could have been partly or fully avoided, according to the study.
The value of the avoidable food waste is estimated at € 235 per resident a year. For Germany as a whole, this means a total cost of € 21.6 billion, the agriculture ministry pointed out.