Estonian households throw away €117 million worth of food a year
Estonian households generated nearly 69,200 metric tons of food waste in 2025, with avoidable waste accounting for almost 38 percent of the total, Delfi reports based a new study.
Estonian households generated nearly 69,200 metric tons of food waste in 2025 of which 25,337 metric tons or nearly 38 percent was food loss — food thrown away that could still have been eaten if it had been consumed sooner or stored or handled differently.
This means that nearly 18.5 kilograms of food per person was thrown away over the course of the year. The value of food wasted in households totaled €116.7 million. For an average two-person household, this amounts to a loss of approximately €179 a year, according to a new study on food waste.
Vegetables, prepared foods, dairy products and baked goods accounted for the largest share of food wasted in households. The main causes of avoidable food loss were insufficient planning, a lack of awareness of what was in the refrigerator and preparing excessively large quantities of food.
At the same time, food waste has declined compared with previous years.
Estonia's entire food supply chain generated approximately 139,000 metric tons of food waste in both 2024 and 2025, which amounts to an average of 102 kilograms per person per year. Households accounted for nearly half of the total, but significant amounts of waste were also generated by the food industry, retail, food service and agriculture.
The study was commissioned by the Environmental Investment Center and the Ministry of Climate with support from the EU Cohesion Fund and conducted by Levellab and Roheline Rada.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski
Source: Delfi
