Toidujäätmete ja toidukao teke Eesti toidutarneahelas

Estonia generates approximately 167,000 tons of food waste annually, equivalent to 127 kg per capita. Households are the largest contributors, accounting for 48% of total waste and 40% of total food loss. The total monetary value of food wasted in the supply chain is estimated at €164 million per year. The report details waste patterns across sectors, identifying spoilage in households and inadequate sales planning in retail as primary drivers, while recommending strategic roadmaps, improved monitoring, and expanded food donation systems to reduce these losses.

• Estonia generates approximately 166,513 tons of food waste per year, which averages 126.5 kg per person. The distribution across the supply chain is: households (48%), food industry (19%), primary production (14%), trade (12%), and catering (6%).
• Food loss (avoidable food waste) accounts for 50% of total food waste, totaling about 83,696 tons annually. The total estimated monetary value of this wasted food is €164 million per year.
• Estonian households generate about 81,000 tons of food waste annually, with 42% (approx. 34,000 tons) being avoidable food loss. This represents an increase in both total waste (13%) and food loss (33%) compared to 2014, suggesting that higher incomes have led to more waste.
• In households, the primary cause of food loss is spoilage, occurring in 49% of cases. The most discarded food groups are vegetables (32% of avoidable waste), followed by cooked food residues (23%), fruits and berries (18%), and dairy products (13%).
• The catering sector generates approximately 11,000 tons of food waste annually. About 74% of this is avoidable food loss, with the main cause being food left on plates by customers (averaging 71% of food loss).
• Retail stores generate approximately 20,000 tons of food waste (all considered avoidable food loss) annually. Fruits and vegetables make up 49% of unsold goods. The primary causes are inadequate sales planning and consumer behavior.
• The food industry generates about 32,000 tons of food waste, but avoidable food loss is low at approximately 10% (3,200 tons) because most waste is inedible production by-products. Fruit and vegetable processing is the largest contributor (52%).
• Primary production generates approximately 24,000 tons of food waste annually, of which 82% is food loss. Potato cultivation is the largest source, accounting for nearly 60% of primary production food waste.
• In primary production, milk production reported no food waste but a production loss of 3.5% of volume, primarily due to somatic cell counts and antibiotics during milking. Wheat cultivation saw 1.2% of production discarded as food waste, mainly during pre-cleaning.

APA

Piirsalu, E., Moora, H., Väli, K., Aro, K., Värnik, R., & Lillemets, J. (2021). Toidujäätmete ja toidukao teke Eesti toidutarneahelas. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/toidujaatmete-ja-toidukao-teke-eesti-toidutarneahelas-2021.pdf

Chicago

Piirsalu, Evelin, Harri Moora, Kadi Väli, Kersti Aro, Rando Värnik, and Jüri Lillemets. Toidujäätmete ja toidukao teke Eesti toidutarneahelas. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2021. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/toidujaatmete-ja-toidukao-teke-eesti-toidutarneahelas-2021.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Piirsalu |first1=Evelin |last2=Moora |first2=Harri |last3=Väli |first3=Kadi |last4=Aro |first4=Kersti |last5=Värnik |first5=Rando |last6=Lillemets |first6=Jüri |title=Toidujäätmete ja toidukao teke Eesti toidutarneahelas |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=May 2021 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/toidujaatmete-ja-toidukao-teke-eesti-toidutarneahelas-2021.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{piirsalu2021toidujtmete, author = {Piirsalu, Evelin and Moora, Harri and Väli, Kadi and Aro, Kersti and Värnik, Rando and Lillemets, Jüri}, title = {{Toidujäätmete ja toidukao teke Eesti toidutarneahelas}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2021}, month = may, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/toidujaatmete-ja-toidukao-teke-eesti-toidutarneahelas-2021.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }