In Germany, around 10.8 to 11 million tons of food are thrown away every year, with the majority – around 58% – occurring in private households. This corresponds to around 6.3 million tons by end consumers alone. This means that an average of 74 to 76 kilograms of edible food per person ends up in the bin every year .
This is exactly where food sharing initiatives and platforms such as yamshare.de come in: They connect people who want to share leftover food with those who want to use it. This prevents good food from simply being thrown away. This is not only sustainable, but also makes economic sense.
What does that mean in euros?
The exact amount is difficult to quantify as the value of food varies greatly. According to estimates by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, food worth around 234 euros per person per year ends up in the bin in private households. Extrapolated to all households in Germany, this amounts to a loss of over 20 billion euros per year – solely due to avoidable food waste in the private sector. If the entire value chain (retail, gastronomy, industry) is included, the total rises even further
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