600 tons of food wasted daily in Erbil
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Roughly 600 tons of food is wasted daily in Erbil province with some blaming people for throwing away good food.
"People are ordering too much food but not consuming it,” Niwar Kazim, an Erbil resident who thinks restaurant customers are part of the problem, told Rudaw. “It is a sin. There are poor individuals and those with limited financial resources. We could consume half and share the remaining half with those in need.”
For the past eight years, Govand Wali has been responsible for collecting Erbil’s garbage. According to him, every household dustbin holds some amount of food waste.
“They throw away bread, they throw away rice, they throw away all kinds of things, amounting to about ten tons of garbage in a day,” Wali said.
Over 2,000 tons of waste find their way into Erbil’s dumps each day. Approximately 31.5 percent of this is food waste, indicating that roughly 600 tons of food is thrown out daily in Erbil and its neighboring areas.
According to the United Nations Global Environment Program (UNEP), an estimated 783 million individuals globally are grappling with food insecurity.
Globally, approximately one-third of all food produced for human consumption is wasted each year, amounting to about 1.3 billion tons. This waste occurs at various stages of the food supply chain, including production, processing, distribution, and consumption according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
"People are ordering too much food but not consuming it,” Niwar Kazim, an Erbil resident who thinks restaurant customers are part of the problem, told Rudaw. “It is a sin. There are poor individuals and those with limited financial resources. We could consume half and share the remaining half with those in need.”
For the past eight years, Govand Wali has been responsible for collecting Erbil’s garbage. According to him, every household dustbin holds some amount of food waste.
“They throw away bread, they throw away rice, they throw away all kinds of things, amounting to about ten tons of garbage in a day,” Wali said.
Over 2,000 tons of waste find their way into Erbil’s dumps each day. Approximately 31.5 percent of this is food waste, indicating that roughly 600 tons of food is thrown out daily in Erbil and its neighboring areas.
According to the United Nations Global Environment Program (UNEP), an estimated 783 million individuals globally are grappling with food insecurity.
Globally, approximately one-third of all food produced for human consumption is wasted each year, amounting to about 1.3 billion tons. This waste occurs at various stages of the food supply chain, including production, processing, distribution, and consumption according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).