With the return to social life, attention to domestic food management is declining, yet Italy remains the most virtuous country in the G8 when it comes to waste. With the return to social life, attention to domestic food management is declining, yet Italy remains the most virtuous country in the G8 when it comes to waste.
The reduction in domestic food waste in Italy had been one of the most significant achievements of the spring 2020 lockdown. With the return to social life and coexistence with the virus, the food waste indicator in Italian homes is rising again, breaking the virtuous trend of the past two years.
The picture is painted by the Osservatorio Waste Watcher International with data from the "Caso Italia" 2022, a survey promoted by the Spreco Zero campaign of Last Minute Market in partnership with the University of Bologna and Ipsos, and released on the occasion of the 9th national day for the prevention of food waste, celebrated on 5 February, which this year carries the theme "One health, one earth. Stop food waste" to underline how prevention and reduction of waste are key elements in safeguarding human and environmental health.
The data show that Italians throw away an average of 595.3 grams of food per capita per week, or 30.956 kg per year: around 15 per cent more than in 2020 (529 grams per week). The figures are higher in the south (+18 per cent waste compared to the national average) and among households without children (+12 per cent compared to the Italian average). Food waste in Italian homes amounts overall to more than 7 billion euros, rising to 10.5 billion when food waste across the entire supply chain is included.
Economic concern over food waste turns into environmental concern when looking at the pandemic effect on everyday habits: as many as 6 in 10 Italians (59 per cent) believe the general situation has worsened because of the virus, citing the increase in plastic waste (face masks, gloves, syringes), the decline in the use of public transport in favour of private cars, and the rise in online shopping and delivery. For this reason, Italians say they are willing to adopt a range of good practices: first and foremost recycling (92 per cent), followed by preventing food waste (91 per cent), and reducing the purchase of products with plastic packaging (90 per cent). On the subject of packaging, one in two Italians now says they are willing to pay up to 5 per cent more for packaging capable of keeping a food product fresh for longer.
Waste, according to what Italians report, occurs in most cases due to forgetting about food that has been bought (47 per cent), fresh food spoiling quickly (46 per cent), but also due to excessive purchases out of fear of not having enough food at home (33 per cent).
The primary tool for combating waste thus remains the shopping list, followed by managing the fridge and pantry, which Italians prefer to do "the old-fashioned way": the use of apps and devices to support household appliances and home pantries is not yet seen by a large majority as a reference tool in the fight against waste. Fewer than 10 per cent say they use them or consider them useful tools in managing food waste reduction, whereas the Chinese are the most tech-savvy people on the planet when it comes to preventing food waste: up to 17 per cent use dedicated apps, in particular to monitor food stored at home, but also to snap up unsold items from shops and restaurants.
Despite the rise in national food waste, Italy nonetheless remains the most virtuous nation in the "G8" of waste, which sees Russians at 672 grams per week, Spaniards at 836 grams, followed by British citizens at 949 g, Germans at 1,081 g, Canadians at 1,144 g, Chinese at 1,153 grams and Americans at 1,453 grams.