Bio-waste generation in the EU: Current capture levels and future potential

Since January 1st 2024, it is mandatory for EU Member States to separately collect bio-waste. But many countries have poor models for collecting it. Almost 75% of food waste generated in the EU remains uncaptured, resulting in huge volumes emissions from bio-waste in landfills and a huge possible resource of potential compost. This bio-waste could be a valuable feedstock for the bio-based industries.

In this second edition of our report, we once again team up with Zero Waste Europe to look at collection methods in EU Member States (plus Norway and the UK), highlighting best practices, projects valorising bio-waste and with a breakdown of the situation in each country with accompanying Country Fact Sheets.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report estimates the current and future availability of bio-waste in the EU27, besides UK and Norway, whose environmental and waste policies aim at aligning with EU ones. As defined in EU regulations (the revised Waste Framework Directive), there are two major types of bio-waste: garden and food waste. This report focuses on food waste in particular (as the obligation stipulated at article 22 of the Waste Framework Directive drives its separation as one of most intriguing updates in the waste management strategies and practices) although calculations also cover bio-waste as a whole.

The first chapter briefly outlines the EU policy drivers for the management of bio-waste, one of which will be the new Waste Framework Directive (WFD), which mandates bio-waste separation from 1 January 2024 onwards. Other drivers from environmental policies are also mentioned.

In the second chapter, the methodology of the report is outlined. The report builds on public information and national data from the 27 Member States + UK and Norway for bio-waste generation, adopting a few assumptions on how to calculate the current capture of bio-waste in the EU27+ and the theoretical potential.

The third chapter presents the results. In the EU27+, current capture of food waste is 15,112,788 tonnes per year, below 26% of the theoretical potential, estimated at 60,034,681 tonnes. It must be noted that the latter number is indeed only theoretical. Every type of collection aims at maximising capture, but will never reach 100%. With that in mind, the report defines a target capture level, the ‘operational potential’, of around 85% of the theoretical potential, so as to calculate how much food waste, currently left in mixed waste, may actually still be recovered.

The fourth chapter provides some best practices in bio-waste management. This includes the case of cities, including largest ones, and other jurisdictions where residential food waste collection has been implemented. BBI JU funded projects are also included as examples of best practices for sustainable management and valorisation of bio-waste to provide new bio-based compounds for chemicals, food-packaging and for agricultural sectors.

Finally, the report includes country-specific factsheets that provide calculations for various countries, and other specific information that is relevant to bio-waste management strategies and perspectives in every specific country.

INTRODUCTION

This report includes all findings from the updated survey on total generation, current captures and subsequent potential expansion of collection of food waste (as a sub-set of bio-waste) and bio-waste in general (which includes both food waste and garden/park waste); the survey covers EU Member States, the UK and Norway; a Country Fact Sheet is also included for each EU Member State, the UK and Norway.

The first survey was carried out in 2020, and it showed that only as little as 16% of food waste, and 32% of bio-waste, was captured by dedicated collections in EU27+ (i.e. EU + UK + NO). The update aims at assessing, whether there was an increase in captures, the likely influence of the obligation on separate management of bio-waste stipulated by Article 22 of the Waste Framework Directive, and the remaining “distance to target”, i.e. how much potentially recoverable food waste and bio-waste are still lost in mixed (or “residual”) waste and go to incineration, landfilling or other disposal routes.

Separation of bio-waste, and of food waste in particular, is important under different angles, hence the relevance of this survey. Capturing bio-waste/food waste by means of separate collection, is one of the cornerstones of the European agenda on circular economy and bioeconomy in particular, for it allows the proper processing of bio-waste and food waste through bio-refineries, composting and AD sites, so that it be made into valuable organic compounds, soil improvers and renewable energy.

Unfortunately, despite all the policy drivers in Europe, listed below, bio-waste (and food waste in particular) still represent a largely “untapped potential”: with specific regards to food waste (whose separation is one of most important innovations to be considered in European strategies and practices promoted by the Waste Framework Directive), the key finding of this survey is that in the EU27+, current capture of food waste is still as little as 15,112,788 tonnes per year, below 26% of the theoretical
potential, estimated at 60,034,681 tonnes.

This calls on local decision makers and investors, to consider new, optimised plans and actions, improved practices, but also on policy-makers to consider adopting legally binding targets to supplement the obligation stipulated in article 22 of the Waste Framework Directive (for an obligation may be complied with, also through implementation of schemes which are not resultoriented, and deliver comparatively poor performances in terms of captures).

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