The reduction of food waste and food loss are two of the EU’s main objectives in order to achieve a circular economy by 2050.
Binding reduction targets for countries
The Commission put forward a proposal for a revision of the Waste Framework Directive in July 2023 to do more to reduce food and textile waste. Among the changes, it proposed binding waste reduction targets on the national level by the end of 2030.
The European Parliament and the EU governments reached an agreement on the legislative updates in February 2025. They were then adopted by Parliament in September 2025.
Ten percent of waste should be reduced in food processing and manufacturing, and 30% in retail, restaurants, food services and households by 2030 compared to the annual food waste average between 2021 and 2023.
“We succeeded in ensuring feasible and realistic provisions for member states to implement food waste reduction policies and we managed to ensure that the agriculture sector will not be negatively impacted,” said Anna Zalewska (ECR, Poland), the MEP in charge of steering the legislation through Parliament, after the agreement was reached.
Make date labelling clearer
The European Commission has carried out consumer research to identify potential new ways to mark dates and has developed different consumer profiles with regard to food waste.
Facilitate food donation
Food donation is another way to reduce unnecessary food waste. The EU food donation guidelines were adopted in 2017 with the aim of facilitating the recovery and redistribution of safe, edible food to those in need.
In the negotiations on the update of the Waste Framework Directive in 2025, MEPs secured measures that would facilitate the donation of unsold food that is safe for human consumption.
Create a common method to measure food waste
Additionally, a common EU methodology was adopted in 2019 in order to measure food waste at each stage of the food-supply chain. Common methodology eases the monitoring and reporting of food waste across the EU.
Read more on EU actions about waste