Still-edible food discarded in Japan in fiscal 2022 totaled an estimated 4.72 million tons, causing 4 trillion yen ($25 billion) in economic losses, the government said Friday, calling for more efforts to curb such waste even though the figure hit a record-low.
The government aims to halve food wasted by households and businesses from the fiscal 2000 level by fiscal 2030, and the latest data showed that food-related businesses, including convenience stores and restaurants, had already achieved the goal by reducing waste to 2.36 million tons from 5.47 million tons in fiscal 2000.
Food wasted by households, however, stood at 2.36 million tons, down from 4.33 million tons in fiscal 2000. To meet the 2030 target, households must reduce wasted food to 2.16 million tons.
In total, wasted food in fiscal 2022 fell 510,000 tons from the previous year, the smallest amount since comparable data became available in fiscal 2012, and stood at less than half the 9.8 million tons logged in fiscal 2000, according to the Consumer Affairs Agency.
"Both businesses and consumers need to continue to make efforts," consumer affairs minister Hanako Jimi told a press conference, suggesting that her agency will consider setting a new reduction target for businesses.
The economic losses for fiscal 2022 on a per capita basis came to 32,125 yen, the data said.
The government attributed the reduction in food wasted by businesses to measures such as extending best-before dates and relaxing delivery deadlines from food manufacturers to retailers.
Wasted food is a major global issue, as it represents unnecessary carbon dioxide emissions. A target set under the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 calls for halving wasted food globally on a per capita basis at the retail and consumer levels and reducing food loss in production and supply chains.
According to the United Nations, global hunger remained relatively unchanged from 2021 to 2022, but is still far above pre-COVID-19-pandemic levels, affecting around 9.2 percent of the world population in 2022 compared with 7.9 percent in 2019.
Nearly 600 million people are projected to be chronically undernourished by 2030, while the pandemic and Russia's war in Ukraine has led to an extra 119 million people being undernourished, the U.N. website said.
