Vietnamese people waste nearly 4 billion USD by throwing away usable food.

More than 8 million tons of usable food are thrown away in Vietnam every year, wasting about 3.9 billion USD. On average, each person generates 76 kg of food waste, while the global average is 74 kg/year.

Representatives of the Ho Chi Minh City Culinary Association and the Vietnam Food Bank Network signed a cooperation agreement to prevent food loss and waste in the F&B system and culinary festivals - Photo: CONG TRIEU

Mr. Nguyen Tuan Khoi, Chairman of the Vietnam Food Bank Network, informed at the launching ceremony of the Green Hero food waste recycling initiative on September 29.

19% of available food is wasted

Food waste is becoming a global tragedy, with serious economic , social and environmental impacts.

Data from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 2022 showed that 1.05 billion tonnes of food was wasted, accounting for 19% of the total food available to consumers.

Another statistic says about one-third of food produced globally is wasted or lost, causing estimated economic losses exceeding $1 trillion.

Mr. Nguyen Tuan Khoi, Chairman of Vietnam Food Bank Network - Photo: CONG TRIEU

The estimated loss in Vietnam is equivalent to nearly 2% of GDP. Of which, vegetables and fruits account for 32%, meat 14%, and seafood 12%.

The total amount of household waste in Ho Chi Minh City is about 13,000 tons/day, of which food waste is equivalent to 7,800 tons/day.

Statistics show that over 88% of food waste from large cities is dumped in landfills without any specialized treatment. Technology for treating organic waste is still limited, and there is no solution for the process of transporting and treating waste after sorting.

At the event's launch ceremony, the organizers gave many gifts to children at Binh Trung Dong Charity School (Binh Trung Ward, Ho Chi Minh City) - Photo: CONG TRIEU

Recycling food waste

On the occasion of World Day against Food Loss and Waste, September 29, the Vietnam Food Bank Network launched the campaign "Food for Change 2025" and the food waste recycling initiative - Green Hero.

The activity is coordinated with the Global Food Bank, Green Journey Social Enterprise, Vietnam Farmers Network and Ho Chi Minh City Culinary Association.

The Green Hero initiative helps raise public awareness, deploy technological solutions, connect farmers and cooperatives, form regenerative farms and innovation centers.

Will expand from urban to rural areas, contributing to reducing pollution, regenerating resources and supporting green livelihoods for people.

Focusing on processing food waste at the source, transforming it into useful products such as compost, soil nutrients or animal feed through black soldier fly and earthworm farming technology.

Green Hero will build a technology ecosystem connecting restaurants, supermarkets, wholesale markets and farms, creating a food circulation chain.

"Green Hero will be a bridge for waste to be classified, processed and returned to serve the community in the form of fertilizer, recycled food or clean energy," said Mr. Khoi.

Food waste disposal is a burden for many restaurants.

Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Chefs Association Nguyen Thanh Tam said the purpose and actions of the initiative will give the community a brighter view on the economical use and recycling of food waste.

Previously, the treatment of food waste in restaurants and hotels always accounted for 20-30%, which was a burden. If we apply the initiative, we can completely take advantage of this food waste to reuse and recycle it into fertilizer.

"The reuse model will help businesses save a lot of costs, reduce emissions significantly, and contribute to improving the living environment," said Mr. Tam.

CONG TRIEU

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/dan-viet-hoang-phi-gan-4-ti-usd-do-bo-thuc-pham-con-dung-duoc-20250929154355425.htm