ROME, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Food waste in Italy would amount to about 15 billion euros (17 billion U.S. dollars) per year, equal to some 0.88 percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a study revealed on Tuesday.
The new data were released as the country marked the National Day against Food Waste, which is on every Feb. 5 and was now in its sixth edition.
Provided by researchers with the University of Bologna, the Ministry of Environment, and the National Observatory Waste Watcher, the report was based on data provided by National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) Ministry of Economic Development, Institute for Monitoring Agro-Food Markets (ISMEA), and on a survey among Italian families carried out within a European Union (EU) campaign against food waste called "Reduce".
Surprisingly enough, findings suggested the vast majority of food waste in Italy would arise from households' behaviours.
"The real domestic waste represents the four-fifths of the overall food waste in the country," the Waste Watcher 2019 report highlighted.
Indeed, the domestic food production chain would throw 3.17 billion euros of food on average per year, while 11.85 billion euros would be wasted by private citizens.
"These are considerable figures, which should prompt us to meditate on our personal food buying habits and manners," Environment Minister Sergio Costa commented in a statement.
"The waste of hydric, environmental, and economic resources -- both in production chain and in purchase of food -- is a bad habit we can no longer afford," he stressed.
Italy has been tackling the issue in latest years, combining awareness campaign and legislative action.
In 2013, the Environment Ministry launched a National Plan for Food Waste Prevention, and three years later, the government passed a law introducing a series of measures to cut food waste by at least 1 million tons annually, and making easier to donate unsold food.
According to the survey carried out by Waste Watcher Observatory, among 400 families, Italian households currently throw an average of 84.9 kg of food every year, while the individual wastage would amount to 36.9 kg.
Overall, the food waste in the country was estimated in 2.2 tons last year.
In EU, an estimated 88 tons of food waste were generated each year, with households counting for 47 percent of that, according to the European Commission.
At global level, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated one-third of the food produced for human consumption would go lost or wasted, which was equivalent to some 1.3 billion tons per year.
The Italian survey showed households were not truly aware of the incidence of home food wastage.
Some 20 percent of those involved in fact believed the most of waste would originate from business (considering the distribution), and another 27 percent pointed the finger against public institutions such as hospitals, schools, and offices.
Nonetheless, a poll by Farmers' Association Coldiretti and Ixe' Institute in recent days showed 71 percent of Italians reduced their waste of food in the past year, while 22 percent kept it unchanged, and a minority of 7 percent increased it.
While the National Day was being marked with an array of initiatives across the major Italian cities, a further appeal came from the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA).
"In order to restore food security conditions in Italy, the overall waste should be cut by some 25 percent," the ISPRA warned in a separate report analysing social and economical impact of food wastage.
"Food waste generates significant socio-economic and environmental effects, and is accountable for some 7 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to about 3.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year," it said.
