Almost half of the world's food thrown away, report finds

clock

Figures from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers show as much as 2bn tonnes of food never makes it on to a plate

As much as half of all the food produced in the world - equivalent to two billion tonnes - ends up as waste every year, engineers warned in a report published on Thursday. The UK's Institution of Mechanical...

To continue reading this article...

Join BusinessGreen

In just a few clicks you can start your free BusinessGreen Lite membership for 12 months, providing you access to:

  • Three complimentary articles per month covering the latest real-time news, analysis, and opinion from Europe’s leading source of information on the Green economy and business
  • Receive important and breaking news stories via our daily news alert
  • Our weekly newsletter with the best of the week’s green business news and analysis

Join now

 

Already a BusinessGreen member?

Login

More on Waste

The war on waste has never been more urgent, or necessary

The war on waste has never been more urgent, or necessary

Amid extraordinary geopolitical instability, the question businesses should be asking is: what if we made the most of what we already have? writes Olio CEO and co-founder Tessa Clarke

Tessa Clarke, Olio
clock 08 April 2026 • 5 min read
UK sports federations team up to tackle clothing waste

UK sports federations team up to tackle clothing waste

Sustainable Sports Apparel Charter aims to combat 'structural overproduction, underuse, and disposal' of sports clothing in the UK

BusinessGreen staff
clock 30 March 2026 • 2 min read
Government hands Environment Agency 'police-like powers' to tackle waste crime

Government hands Environment Agency 'police-like powers' to tackle waste crime

Defra moves to establish zero-tolerance policy on illegal waste, as government threatens to confiscate fly tippers' driving licenses

Stuart Stone
clock 16 March 2026 • 4 min read