Jerusalem, 17 September, 2025 (TPS-IL) — For the first time, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, is publishing a comprehensive plan to reduce food loss and waste in Israel. The plan includes the establishment of a new regional food loss and waste management systems. The plan sets goals according to two scenarios: a moderate scenario with a 25% reduction by 2050, and an advanced goal of a 50% reduction in food loss and waste compared to the current situation. Implementation of the plan over the next five years is expected to prevent approximately 670,000 tons of food loss, save approximately 343 million Shekels ($102 million) per year in waste treatment costs, and yield a net economic benefit of approximately 452 million Shekels ($136 million) per year.
Food loss and waste are an economic, social and environmental challenge: Every year, approximately 2.6 million tons of food are thrown away in Israel, estimated at approximately 23 billion shekels per economy. Of the total food thrown away, approximately 44% – approximately 1.17 million tons – are salvageable, given the grim reality in which 2.18 million people in Israel live in food insecurity.