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Today, Italy celebrates National Food Waste Prevention Day, a crucial moment to reflect on how much value is lost when food does not reach our tables and on the concrete opportunities we have to change course.

Food waste is often portrayed as a moral issue. In reality, it is much more than that: it is one of the main indicators of the structural inefficiency of the food system. A system that wastes food also wastes natural resources, labor, capital, energy, and trust. And as long as we continue to treat it as a problem of individual good intentions, rather than an economic and industrial challenge, we will continue to miss the mark.

The numbers speak for themselves. Every year, 1.05 billion tons of food are wasted worldwide, about one-third of global production. In Italy, waste amounts to 5.124 million tons, with an economic value of €13.51 billion, according to data from Waste Watcher International. This paradox becomes even more serious when viewed in relation to another structural reality: over 8 million people in our country live in conditions of moderate or severe food insecurity. Food waste and food poverty are not separate phenomena, but two sides of the same systemic inefficiency.

It is no coincidence that the National Food Waste Prevention Day, now in its thirteenth edition, draws attention to the entire agri-food chain. Waste does not only originate in domestic kitchens. It is distributed throughout the value chain, from primary production to processing, from distribution to final consumption. Each stage has its own specific critical issues and requires different tools.

Italy: Obvious problems, possible solutions

According to Waste Watcher International’s Cross Country Report 2025, Italy performs worse than other European countries. The average weekly waste per capita is 555.8 grams, compared to 512.9 in Germany, 459.9 in France, 446.5 in Spain, and 469.5 in the Netherlands. The gap between this figure and the target set by Agenda 2030, which is 369.7 grams per capita per week by 2030, remains significant.

Structural issues also emerge at the regional level. In northern Italy, the average weekly waste is 515.2 grams, in central Italy it drops to 490.6 grams, while in southern Italy it rises to 628.6 grams. This gap cannot be bridged with general campaigns, but requires targeted and differentiated policies.

Looking at the supply chain, the distribution of waste is far from uniform. Agricultural production accounts for 40.9% of losses, with over 2 million tons of food wasted. Industrial processing accounts for 19.9%. Distribution, while representing only 6% of volumes, generates almost €4 billion in economic losses due to aesthetic standards, return policies, and logistical inefficiencies. Finally, domestic consumption accounts for 33.2%, confirming that education and awareness are decisive levers, but not sufficient on their own.

Where efficiency becomes the solution

Reducing waste therefore means rethinking the efficiency of the system as a whole. In this context, the food industry is not part of the problem, but an essential component of the solution. Quality and technology are not simply added values, but concrete tools for protecting food, reducing losses, and ensuring safety and quality for consumers. Industrial processing allows for longer shelf life, more efficient distribution, reduced waste, and greater nutritional reliability. Demonizing it, as is being done with so-called ultra-processed foods (UPFs), means giving up one of the most effective levers against waste. It is no coincidence that Italy is among the leading countries in Europe for industrial practices to reduce food loss.

Alongside the food industry, regenerative animal husbandry also offers concrete examples of waste reduction. The integral use of raw materials, the valorization of by-products, the use of co-products from the agri-food industry in animal feed, and the use of precision technologies make it possible to transform what would otherwise be waste into a resource. This is a model of applied circular economy, often absent from public debate but central to the real sustainability of the agri-food system. Italian farmers also represent excellence in this area at the European level.

Finally, the challenge also concerns consumers. It is possible to enable them to reduce waste, and technology can play a decisive role. Tools that are already available, such as wearables, artificial intelligence applied to precision nutrition, and home automation solutions, from smart refrigerators to purchase management systems, not only allow for more balanced lifestyles, but also enable more conscious purchasing and consumption, drastically reducing household waste.

Innovation, not ideology

Preventing food waste cannot therefore be entrusted to symbolic interventions or ideological interpretations. Reducing losses means increasing the productivity of the system, strengthening its resilience, and improving food security in a context marked by geopolitical instability, cost pressures, and supply chain vulnerabilities.

If we really want to halve waste by 2030, as required by international commitments, we need to shift the debate: less rhetoric, more system; less blame, more solutions; less ideology, more innovation. It is on this ground that the real economic, environmental, and social challenge of food waste is being played out.

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