‘Massive’ impact of food waste on climate with nearly a billion tons binned each year.

Around a fifth (17 per cent) of all the food produced worldwide was thrown away in 2019, amounting to an estimated 931 million tons.

That weight roughly equals that 23 million fully-loaded 40-ton trucks, enough bumper-to-bumper to circle the Earth seven times.

Finds UN report: Researchers said the combined impact of producing just the food that is thrown away, from the fertilisers to the diesel powering the tractors, accounted for around 10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Those figures, included in the Food Waste Index Report 2021 produced by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and charity Wrap, come amid global efforts to halve food waste by 2030.

Around 70 per cent of all the food wasted is linked to households, with 16 per cent coming from manufacturing, 11 per cent from restaurants, pubs and hotels, and just 3 per cent from supermarkets.