The Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard (or FLW Standard) is a global standard that provides requirements and guidance for quantifying and reporting on the weight of food and/or associated inedible parts removed from the food supply chain—commonly referred to as “food loss and waste” (FLW). Using the standard enables countries, cities, companies, and other entities to develop inventories of how much FLW is generated and where it goes. These inventories can underpin, inform, and focus strategies for minimizing FLW. Minimizing FLW can provide economic benefits, enhance food security, improve natural resource use efficiency, and reduce environmental impacts. The purpose of the FLW Standard is to facilitate the quantification of FLW (what to measure and how to measure it) and encourage consistency and transparency of the reported data. The standard enables the consistent quantification of baselines and tracking of progress toward Target 12.31 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as well as other targets.
