Top: The Envirogrind in-vessel composting site in County Donegal, Ireland, one of the European Union Member States. Photo courtesy of Cré
The second edition of “Bio-waste generation in the EU: Current capture levels and future potential,” a joint report by Zero Waste Europe (ZWE) and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC), provides insights into the current and future availability of biowaste (source separated organics) across the 27 European Union (EU) countries, as well as the United Kingdom (UK) and Norway (EU27+). The report was released in November 2024, close to the one-year anniversary of Article 22 of the Waste Framework Directive, which mandates biowaste collection in all EU Member States. The study found that only 26% of theoretical food waste potential is currently captured through the separate collection, highlighting a significant untapped potential. Current capture of food waste is 15.1 million metric tons/year; the estimated total generation is more than 60 million metric tons annually. Notes the report’s Introduction, “It must be noted that the latter number is indeed only theoretical. Every type of collection aims at maximizing capture, but will never reach 100%. With that in mind, the report defines a target capture level, the ‘operational potential’, of around 85% of the theoretical potential, so as to calculate how much food waste, currently left in mixed waste, may actually still be recovered.”
The first edition of the report was based on a 2020 survey of EU27+ countries. It showed that only as little as 16% of food waste, and 32% of biowaste in general (which includes both food waste and garden/park waste), was captured by dedicated collections in EU27+. The 2024 update assessed whether there was an increase in captures, the likely influence of Article 22, and the remaining “distance to target,” i.e., how much potentially recoverable food waste and biowaste are still lost in mixed (or “residual”) waste and go to incineration, landfilling or other disposal routes. The comprehensive 2024 analysis includes updated survey findings, country-specific fact sheets, and strategic recommendations for policymakers and investors. The report emphasizes the urgent need to optimize collection systems and adopt legally binding targets to fully realize the potential of biowaste.
The authors of the report are Enzo Favoino, Scientific Coordinator at Zero Waste Europe and Michele Giavini, a consultant and senior advisor to CIC (Italian Composting & Biogas Association), who collaborated with the Scuola Agraria del Parco di Monza (Agricultural School of Monza Park in Italy). In conducting the analysis, they write that “estimates of captured food waste were the most challenging assumption, as most countries report biowaste or ‘organic waste’ as the sum of both food and garden waste.” To address the challenge, the following assumptions were made, based on the performance of various collection schemes and the related composition of biowaste:
- Countries with mostly commingled schemes: 20% of collected biowaste assumed to be food waste.
- Countries where no food waste collection is in place e.g. Bulgaria: 0% of collected biowaste assumed to be food waste.
- Countries with data available for the two separate streams (Italy, Norway, Denmark, Malta, UK): national data on collected food waste used.
