In Italy, food waste ‘generates’ 7.8 million tonnes of CO every year2 equivalent, or approximately 2% of national emissions. This is what emerges from the data from the Waste Watcher International Observatory released, on the occasion of World Environment Day, by the Zero Waste campaign, together with the Distal – Department of Agri-food Sciences and Technologies of the University of Bologna.
According to the Observatory, compared to the average weekly weight of wasted food, 566.3 g per capita estimated in the Waste Watcher Report ”The Italian case’‘, according to Ipsos monitoring, released in recent months, CO is worth 2.51 kg2 equivalent produced. A calculation which, for the annual waste per capita of approximately 30 kg, leads to the quantity of 130.52 kg of CO2 equivalent, i.e. the same emission that a medium-sized car produces to travel a stretch of road of 1100 km: for example from Milan to Santa Maria di Leuca. Italian domestic waste therefore produces 7.8 million tonnes of CO every year2 equivalent, or approximately 2% of national emissions.
From beef to fruit: this is how much food pollutes
The Waste Watcher International Observatory has collected citizens’ voices on the topic: more than 7 out of 10 respondents (74%) are aware of the impact that food has on the environment and take it into account in their purchasing choices. Six out of 10 interviewees (60%) believe that intensive farming can have a significant impact on the environment, which is why they try to ‘favor plant-derived products’ to include in their diet. And as many as 8 out of 10 citizens (82%) believe that we can contribute to the fight against food waste by making citizens aware of the damage this causes on the environment, 88% of citizens ask to focus on food education in schools . An awareness that reverberates in purchasing habits: the number of consumers who declare that they increasingly choose to purchase legumes and other vegetable derivatives instead of meat and animal derivatives increases by 31% and the attention of consumers increases by 28%. consumers to the sustainability of the food they buy every day.
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