Combating Food Waste a 'Political Priority’ for Luxembourg

On Friday 26 September 2025, Luxembourg’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Viticulture announced a national week of awareness on food waste with the objective to remind the public that small daily actions can have a significant collective impact.

Each year on 29 September, the United Nations (UN) marks the International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste, highlighting the scale of a global challenge that affects all societies. Food waste represents a loss of precious resources - land, water and energy - and contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated that one third of global food production is never consumed.

According to the ministry, in Luxembourg the available data indicates that more than half of food waste comes from households and stated: “Each of us therefore has a role to play in reducing this loss. Awareness-raising and education are essential levers for guiding citizens towards more responsible behaviours.”


On Tuesday 23 September, the ministry organised a conference at the Forum Geesseknäppchen in Luxembourg-Merl aimed at informing and raising awareness among the public about food waste. At the event, science journalist and author Ranga Yogeshwar gave a presentation entitled “Emil’s World - a Society in Transition” which encouraged participants to reflect on the future of our children and grandchildren and the importance of sustainable resource management.

The conference was followed by a roundtable bringing together experts from food production, processing and distribution, as well as a consumer representative. These discussions highlighted both the efforts already made and the challenges remaining to limit food waste “from farm to plate”.

The ministry has stated that in 2025 it will expand its awareness campaign with new, modern and interactive tools to reach an ever-wider audience, including:

⁃ a social media campaign: short videos in “Reels” format provide simple and humorous reminders of the eight anti-food-waste golden rules. These actions - such as buying wisely, storing food correctly, and reusing leftovers — help to reduce household food waste effectively. www.youtube.com/@landwirtschaftlu/shorts;

⁃ an online quiz: available at www.antigaspi.lu, it offers 20 questions to test and deepen knowledge on food waste;

⁃ a new online game: also available at www.antigaspi.lu, it invites users to virtually organise food in their kitchen — fridge, cupboards or pantry — to learn good storage practices.

The ministry said that these tools complement the existing educational offer and aim to make awareness-raising more concrete, participatory and accessible to all.

Moreover, the ministry emphasised that combating food waste will remain a political priority. This was reinforced by Minister of Agriculture, Food and Viticulture, Martine Hansen, who said: “Food waste is not only a loss of resources, it is also a lack of respect for the work of those who produce our food. Together, let us make reducing waste a daily habit for a more sustainable future.”