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Policy Brief

Building Consumer Capacity for a Just Zero Food Waste Transition

Consumer-level food waste remains a major challenge across EU households, retail, and hospitality sectors, driven by behavioural habits, limited information, and structural inequalities.
 
This Policy Brief explores how empowering consumers is essential for a fair and inclusive transition towards zero food waste. Drawing on insights from the ZeroW project, it highlights the need to combine behavioural change with systemic reform - reframing food as a social and cultural good rather than a disposable commodity.
 
The brief outlines actionable policy recommendations to promote data-driven consumer engagement, foster social innovation, and enable local initiatives that make food waste reduction equitable, accessible, and effective.
 

AUTHORS

Anouck Guillou (SAFE - Safe Food Advocacy Europe) 
Antonio De Carluccio (SAFE - Safe Food Advocacy Europe) 
Caroline van der Weerdt (TNO: Innovation for Life)
 
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These policy briefs were jointly produced by the beneficiaries SAFE - Safe Food Advocacy Europe, ICLEI Europe, IFAPA - Andalusian Ministry for Agriculture, Fishery and Environment, TNO: Innovation for Life, Fondazione ITL: Istituto sui trasporti e la logistica, and CTA - Technological Corporation of Andalusia within Work Package 8 (WP8), entitled “Policy recommendations for a just transition to near-zero food loss and waste (FLW),” as part of the ZeroW project.
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