Europe Asia News

The UN announced the global theme for World Cleanup Day 2026, observed on September 20, as “From clean plates to clean cities.”

According to UN data, more than 1 billion meals are wasted worldwide every day while millions of people face hunger. Food waste places pressure on waste management systems, contributes to climate change, leads to losses associated with the use of land and water resources, and affects efforts to build more resilient food systems.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) 2024 Food Waste Index Report, approximately 1.05 billion tonnes of food were wasted at household, food service and retail levels in 2022. This amount was reported to represent around 19 percent of the food available to consumers.

According to UN data, food waste continues alongside hunger and food insecurity. In 2024, approximately 673 million people experienced hunger, while around 2.3 billion people faced moderate or severe food insecurity.

The statement also drew attention to the environmental and economic costs of food loss and waste, noting that they account for up to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and cost the global economy approximately $1 trillion annually.

The UN stated that preventing food waste does not simply mean keeping food out of the bin, but also protecting the land, water, energy and labor used to produce it.

The UN said that while food waste is a significant global problem, it can be substantially reduced. Reliable measurement, clearly defined targets, supportive policies, strong partnerships and public participation are important in this regard.

The statement noted that preventing waste at its source, redistributing edible food and recovering unavoidable organic waste are among the methods that can be implemented across cities and communities.

Reducing food loss and waste is also linked to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. In particular, under “Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production,” the target is to halve global food waste per capita at the retail and consumer levels by 2030.

The UN stated that efforts to reduce food waste can contribute to ending hunger, creating sustainable cities, combating climate change, conserving natural resources and strengthening food systems.