About the Report
The Report, based on BDO’s economic model for the food industry, includes comprehensive and detailed research regarding the scope of various types of food waste in Israel. It reveals the potential for food rescue at each stage of the food production value chain, as well as the economic, environmental, and health costs of food waste at each stage.
According to the estimates presented in the Report, the total volume of food waste in Israel stands at 2.6 million tons for 2022, valued at approximately NIS 23.1b ($6.5b). The total waste constitutes about 37% of the food produced in Israel. Of this, over 1 million tons of food, valued at about NIS 8.1b ($2.29b), is rescuable, and fit for consumption.
The current Report includes a special, extensive chapter on the impact of food rescue on nutritional security and health costs in Israel (focusing on fruit and vegetables). The economic accessibility of a healthy food basket ensures adequate nutrition vital for physical, mental, and cognitive functioning, and is an essential component for achieving nutritional security. Consuming a healthy food diet with an emphasis on fruit and vegetables may be expensive, however, unhealthy nutrition could be even more costly. The extended chapter in this Report examines and evaluates the excess health expenditures in Israel as a result of nutritional insecurity and the potential for their reduction from food rescue activities in Israel. The Report estimates that about 1.4 million people in Israel live in nutritional insecurity. The additional health cost for a person experiencing nutritional insecurity stands at NIS 3,700 ($1,050) per year, translating to an additional health cost to the economy of about NIS 5.2b ($1.47b) annually.
The rise in food prices over the past year, as well as shortages caused by extreme weather events, are impacting global economies and highlighting the growing need for food rescue.
Food expenditures in Israel are relatively high by international comparison. Food waste constitutes one of the factors affecting the cost of living in Israel, both from the excess expenditure on food and the effect of waste on increased food prices. The overall impact on the cost of living in 2022 amounts to an additional NIS 9,950 ($2,818) per household in the household consumption sector.
In addition, the climate crisis and the Israeli government’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions underscore the need to reduce food waste and use food rescue as a policy tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Preventing food waste and rescuing it instead constitute important economic and environmental tools for implementing Government Decision 171 from July 2021 to reduce the rate of landfilled waste by 71% by 2030. According to the Report’s findings, 2 million tons of food waste and packaging were thrown away in the past year. The estimated environmental damage from food waste is NIS 3.9b ($1.1b).
The findings of the Report indicate that food rescue is highly feasible from economic, social, health, and environmental perspectives. Every dollar invested in food rescue saves food with a direct value of $3.6. When considering the environmental impacts of food production, transport, and supply, every dollar invested in food rescue generates $4.3 for the national economy. After calculating the health benefits of rescuing nutritious food and supplying it to vulnerable populations, every dollar invested in food rescue generates $10.6 for the national economy.
It is our hope that this Report will serve as a basis for public discussion on food waste and will be a helpful tool toward formulating national policy steps to meaningfully change food waste and rescue patterns in Israel.
