Food waste accounts for 25% of water use

Cutting waste food will be key to improving global water efficiency, experts at World Water Week have warned

At the conference, held in Stockholm, speakers confirmed that one-quarter of the world’s water supply is being used to create one billion tonnes of food that is not being eaten.

In an urgent call to policymakers, farmers and manufacturers to do more to cut wastage throughout the food supply chain, Torgny Holmgren, executive director of the Stockholm International Water Institute, said: “Reducing the waste of food is the smartest and most direct route to relieve pressure on water and land resources. It’s an opportunity we cannot afford to overlook.”

However, the International Water Management Institute argued that increased agricultural productivity and wastewater recycling were also critical.

The conference also presented PespsiCo, which owns Walkers crisps and Copella fruit juice, with a water efficiency award for saving 16 billion litres of water across its operations since 2006.