Every bite wasted
costs the planet.

We heard you are interested in climate activism. Navigate around our globe to learn about how sustainable each country is when it comes to reducing the environmental impact of their food waste.

🌍   Click on a country

Now let's compare this country with another.
Pick another country on the globe.

🗺️   Now keep exploring the world and make comparisons!

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Total Food Waste
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🌱 About This Project

Do food waste policies
actually pay off?

Waste Wise is an interactive data visualization built around a single question: does stronger legislation actually lead to less food waste? We analyze 28 countries across 2019 and 2021, scoring each on six policy dimensions — tax incentives, liability protections, date labeling laws, food safety donation rules, waste deterrence measures, and government grants. We then compare those scores against real food waste per capita figures to see whether the numbers tell a clean story.

The data comes from the UNEP Food Waste Index [1], the Harvard Global Food Donation Policy Atlas [2], and the World Bank [3]. Spin the globe above, click any country, and compare. What you find may surprise you.

Core Assertions — What the Data Reveals

Data Sources

1
UNEP Food Waste Index Reports (2021 & 2024) — Food waste per capita by household, foodservice, and retail sector for all 28 countries.
unep.org/resources/report/unep-food-waste-index-report-2021
2
Global Food Donation Policy Atlas — Policy ratings across 6 categories; Harvard Law School Food Law & Policy Clinic + Global FoodBanking Network.
atlas.foodbanking.org/map/
3
World Bank Open Data — GDP per capita (NY.GDP.PCAP.CD) and population (SP.POP.TOTL), 2019–2023.
data.worldbank.org