Food loss/waste and landfill diversion rate
Measurement answer
What this metric measures
Reports the proportion of food produced or handled that is lost or wasted and the proportion of that food loss or waste diverted from landfill.
Specification
Metric specification
- Result format
- Structured table
- Unit
- Structured table — see field-level units
- Reporting basis
- Reporting period selected by the reporting organization and disclosed with the results.
- Aggregation
- Report each percentage separately for the reporting boundary; do not combine the two percentages into a single rate.
- Pillar
- Environmental
- Topic
- Food loss and waste
- Controlled domain
- Materials, circularity and waste
- Entity type
- Metric
Reporting boundary
Food produced or handled by the reporting organization during the reporting period, and food identified as lost or wasted within that population; diversion applies to that identified food loss and/or waste.
Verified source occurrences
Framework coverage
This is one canonical metric. The bindings below show every verified framework occurrence without creating duplicate metric pages. Edition, disclosure, role, and relationship remain source-specific.
- Adopting DisclosureSource evidence
TNFD sector guidance
- Publisher
- Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures
- Edition
- Final English sector guidance collection through August 2026 (17 documents)
- Requirement
- Not Specified
- Relationship
- Defines Disclosure
- Mapping outcome
- Direct Evidence
- Source locator
- Page 75, Section 3.3, Table 12
- Adopting DisclosureFA.A2.0
TNFD sector guidance
- Publisher
- Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures
- Edition
- Version 1.0, June 2024
- Requirement
- Recommended
- Relationship
- Maps Source Identity
- Mapping outcome
- Published
- Source locator
- Page 75, Section 3.3, Table 12
Value structure
Dimensions and units
- Unit
- Structured table — see field-level units
- Reporting basis
- Reporting period selected by the reporting organization and disclosed with the results.
Unit meaning: Each field uses its stated unit and retains the applicable sector, reporting boundary, period and method.
Table fields and units
- Food loss and/or waste as proportion of total food produced or handled
- Food loss and/or waste diverted from landfill
Published dimensions
- Food activity basis: food produced or food handled
- Field: food loss/waste proportion
- Field: proportion of food loss/waste diverted from landfill
- Organizational and operational boundary
- Reporting period
Calculation method
Formula information
- Status
- Specified
- Formula type
- Ratio
Formula
Food loss/waste proportion = food lost and/or wasted ÷ total food produced or handled × 100; landfill-diversion proportion = food loss and/or waste diverted from landfill ÷ total food lost and/or wasted × 100.Apply the source-defined TNFD sector-guidance method within the stated reporting boundary. The source explicitly requires two separately reportable percentage outcomes. They are related but have different denominators, so they are retained as a structured two-field metric rather than merged with total waste generated or the broader existing food-retailer waste profile, which includes different fields and quantification-method content.
Variables
| Symbol | Variable | Definition | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
L | Food lost and/or wasted | Quantity of food identified as lost and/or wasted within the disclosed reporting boundary. | Dimensionless |
T | Total food produced or handled | Quantity of food produced or handled used as the denominator for the food loss/waste proportion. | Dimensionless |
D | Food loss and/or waste diverted from landfill | Quantity of identified food loss and/or waste diverted from landfill. | Dimensionless |
Verified sources
Evidence and status sources
Sustopedia checked each record-specific claim directly against primary publisher material. Labels distinguish current measurement authority from future compatibility and corroborative, legal, edition, or method status context. Corroborative evidence can support a stated limitation but cannot establish the core measurement by itself.
Measurement evidence
- Measurement evidenceChecked 30 August 2026
TNFD additional sector guidance collection
- Publisher
- Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures
- Edition
- Final English sector guidance collection through August 2026 (17 documents)
- Locator
- Page 75, Section 3.3, Table 12
Supports: The official TNFD sector guidance supports the identity, boundary and method basis of “Food loss/waste and landfill diversion rate”.
Open official source
Use with context
Interpretation boundaries
Method disclosures required
Source-edition basis: TNFD sector guidance, Final English sector guidance collection through August 2026 (17 documents).
- Disclose whether the total-food denominator represents food produced, food handled, or a combination, and describe the included activities.
- Disclose the method used to identify and quantify food loss and/or waste.
- Disclose the definition of landfill diversion and the treatment of recovery, donation, composting, anaerobic digestion, recycling, and other destinations.
- Disclose organizational, operational, geographic, and value-chain boundary choices.
- Disclose the reporting period, data sources, estimation methods, exclusions, and any changes from prior reporting periods.
- Attribute the metric specification to TNFD additional sector guidance; TNFD material is CC BY 4.0 and cited third-party terms or standards retain their own rights.
Record-specific limitations
- The extracted specification does not define food-loss versus food-waste classifications, the measurement basis for food quantities, or the definition of diversion from landfill.
- Percentages are not comparable unless the organization discloses whether the denominator is food produced, food handled, or both, and applies a consistent measurement basis.
- The source evidence does not specify a mass unit for underlying food quantities; underlying quantities should use a disclosed consistent unit where calculated.
Interpret this metric with the stated reporting boundary, period convention, value shape, and unit. Results prepared with different boundaries or conventions may not be directly comparable.
Measurement evidence supports the core record-specific claims described above. Corroborative evidence can support limitations, while compatibility and status sources provide their separately labelled context. None of these cards by itself determines an organisation's legal applicability, filing readiness, assurance status, or compliance conclusion.