Food waste, 7 billion euro worth of food ends up in the rubbish in Italia

The wasted food chain is worth over 13 billion. And of this, 7 billion 363 million in Italian homes alone. Significant figures that photograph the annual cost of food waste in Italia. The numbers are those of the Report 'The Case Italia 2026' by the Waste Watcher International Observatory, released on 3 February, on the occasion of the 13th National Day for the Prevention of Food Waste. An up-to-date photograph that, while showing signs of improvement, highlights how the phenomenon continues to represent an economic, as well as an environmental and social, critical issue.

Household food waste is decreasing: 554 grams per capita per week, or about 26 kilograms per year, a drop of 63.9 grams compared to the previous year. This progress testifies to a growing awareness on the part of Italian families, but is not enough to reverse the trend. The overall value of food surpluses dispersed along the supply chain - from production to consumption - remains high, fuelling inefficiencies that weigh not only on family budgets but on the entire economic system.

Despite the reduction in the amount of food wasted, compared to the 2025 survey, each day the per capita share is 79.14 grams. Numbers that keep Italia above the EU average. Baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, are the most careful, with an average weekly per capita waste of 352 grams. Less virtuous are the families of generation Z, which includes those born between 1997 and 2012, positioned at 799 grams of average weekly waste per capita. Slightly better are the millennials, born between 1980 and 1994, with 750 grams per week per capita, and those of generation X (between 1968 and 1980) with 478 grams per week per capita.

Awareness of food waste is growing, with 94% of Italians sensitive to the issue. Wasting is lowest in the North (516 grams per week, -7%) and slightly more in the South (591.2 grams per week, +7%), slightly more in the Centre (570.8 grams per week, +3%). Families with children waste less (-10%) and municipalities with up to 30 thousand inhabitants (-8%). Looking at food, fresh fruit is at the top, with 22.2 grams per week, followed by fresh vegetables (20.6 grams) and fresh bread (19.6 grams). Younger people pay less attention to expiry dates of products than boomers, who are also much more efficient in terms of organising purchases and managing food.

On a macroeconomic level, food waste also has indirect costs: waste management, climate-impacting emissions, consumption of natural resources. Every kilogram of food thrown away implies, in fact, an inefficient use of water, energy and soil. It is here that the issue becomes intertwined with sustainability policies and European ecological transition goals, imposing a paradigm shift that goes beyond the linear 'produce-consume-destroy' logic.