Commission Delegated Decision (EU) 2019/1597 of 3 May 2019 supplementing Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards a common methodology and minimum quality requirements for the uniform measurement of levels of food waste (Text with EEA relevance.)

1 The amounts of food waste shall be measured separately for the following stages of the food supply chain: (a) primary production; (b) processing and manufacturing; (c) retail and other distribution of food; (d) restaurants and food services; (e) households.

2 Food waste shall be attributed to each of the stages of the food supply chain referred to in paragraph 1 in accordance with Annex I.

3 The measurement shall cover food waste that is classified under the waste codes referred to in Annex II or under any other waste code for waste that includes food waste.

4 The measurement of food waste shall not cover the following items: (a) agricultural material referred to in Article 2(1)(f) of Directive 2008/98/EC; (b) animal by-products referred to in Article 2(2)(b) of Directive 2008/98/EC; (c) food waste residues collected within packaging waste classified under waste code ‘15 01 — Packaging (including separately collected municipal packaging waste)’ in the European list of waste as established in Decision 2000/532/EC; (d) food waste residues collected within waste classified under waste code: ‘20 03 03 — Street cleaning residues’ in the European list of waste as established in Decision 2000/532/EC; (e) non-food materials that are mixed together with food waste when collected, to the extent possible.

5 The measurement of food waste shall not cover the following items, without prejudice to the voluntary measurement referred to in Article 3: (a) food waste drained as or with wastewater; (b) substances that are destined for use as feed materials referred to in Article 2(2)(e) of Directive 2008/98/EC.

1 Member States shall measure each year the amount of food waste generated in a full calendar year.

2 Member States shall measure the amount of food waste for a given stage of the food supply chain using the methodology set out in Annex III at least once every four years.

3 When the methodology set out in Annex III is not used, Member States shall measure the amount of food waste for a given stage of the food supply chain using the methodology set out in Annex IV.

4 For the first reporting period, as referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 37(3) of Directive 2008/98/EC, Member States shall measure the amount of food waste for all stages of the food supply chain using the methodology set out in Annex III. For that period, Member States may use data already collected under existing arrangements for the year 2017 or later.

5 The amounts of food waste shall be measured in metric tons of fresh mass.

Member States may measure and provide the Commission with further data related to food waste levels as well as data related to food waste prevention. Such data may include the following: (a) amounts of food waste regarded as composed of parts of food intended to be ingested by humans; (b) amounts of food waste drained as or with wastewaters; (c) amounts of food which has been redistributed for human consumption as referred to in Article 9(1)(h) of Directive 2008/98/EC; (d) amounts of food no longer intended for human consumption placed on the market for transformation into feed by a feed business operator as defined in Article 3(6) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002; (e) former foodstuffs as defined in point 3 of Part A of the Annex to Regulation (EU) No 68/2013.

1 Member States shall take appropriate measures to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the measurements of food waste. In particular, Member States shall ensure that: (a) the measurements conducted in accordance with the methodology set out in Annex III are based on a representative sample of the population to which its results are applied, and adequately reflect the variations in the data on food waste amounts to be measured; (b) the measurements conducted in accordance with the methodology set out in Annex IV are based on the best information available.

2 Member States shall provide the Commission with information on the methods used for measurement of food waste for each of the stages of the food supply chain and on any significant modifications to the methods used in comparison with the methods used for a previous measurement.

This Decision shall enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.