Sustainability in food manufacturing connects climate and resource pressures to decisions made across the full food system. Emissions and pollution show up in agriculture and land use, while factory actions—like improving process energy efficiency—help reduce lifecycle impacts. You’ll also see why packaging, recycling targets, and food-waste management matter, alongside energy and environmental management standards and audit requirements.
Key Takeaways
- 35% of total global greenhouse gas emissions come from food systems across the full value chain (production, processing, distribution, consumption, and waste)
- 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions are caused by agriculture and land-use activities
- 34% of global anthropogenic methane emissions are from agriculture
- In 2024, the global organic food and beverages market was about $135.7 billion (a signal for sustainability-linked demand influencing manufacturing product mix)
- In 2023, the global plant-based food market was valued at approximately $8.4 billion (trend toward lower-impact products relevant to food manufacturers)
- The global sustainable packaging market size was estimated at about $464.3 billion in 2023
- In life-cycle assessments, food manufacturing contributes significant process energy emissions; for example, one study found cooking/baking can contribute 20%–60% of product life-cycle impacts depending on system boundaries (contextual manufacturing process share)
- The IPCC reports that preventing food loss and waste can reduce greenhouse gas emissions substantially; mitigation potential is on the order of hundreds of millions of tonnes CO2e annually depending on measures (system-level LCA mitigation metric)
- Food manufacturing facilities are increasingly adopting energy management systems; ISO 50001 is structured for continuous improvement using a plan-do-check-act cycle (performance management KPI framework)
- The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive targets packaging waste reduction and recycling; it sets recycling targets of at least 50% by weight for specific packaging by 2025
- The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive sets recycling targets of 70% for paper and 50% for plastic packaging by 2030
- The EU Landfill Directive restricted biodegradable municipal waste to 35% of 1995 levels by 2016 (drivers for diversion and waste treatment capacity relevant to food waste streams)
- ISO 14001 certifications reached over 600,000 worldwide in 2022 (environmental management system KPI for sustainability adoption)
- ISO 22000 (food safety management) is structured to integrate with sustainability and environmental controls through management systems, enabling adoption among food processors (management adoption KPI context)
- In 2022, there were about 599,000 ISO 14001 certificates issued globally (EMS adoption metric)
Food manufacturing sustainability matters because emissions from food systems are huge and growing markets demand lower impact.
Related reading
- Sustainability In IndustrySustainability In The Foodservice Industry Statistics
- Sustainability In IndustrySustainability In The Agricultural Industry Statistics
- Sustainability In IndustrySustainability In The Timber Industry Statistics
- Sustainability In IndustrySustainability In The Beef Industry Statistics
01 · Category
Industry Trends25 stats
01
35% of total global greenhouse gas emissions come from food systems across the full value chain (production, processing, distribution, consumption, and waste)https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/chapter/chapter-5/
02
26% of global greenhouse gas emissions are caused by agriculture and land-use activitieshttps://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/chapter/chapter-5/
03
34% of global anthropogenic methane emissions are from agriculturehttps://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/chapter/chapter-5/
04
9% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions come from agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU)https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/chapter/chapter-5/
05
13.2% of global food is lost before reaching retailers (pre-consumer losses)https://www.fao.org/food-loss-and-food-waste/flw-data/en/
06
17% of food is wasted at the consumer level (households, retail, and other end-use stages)https://www.fao.org/food-loss-and-food-waste/flw-data/en/
07
FAO estimates that 14% of total food produced is lost between harvest and retailhttps://www.fao.org/food-loss-and-food-waste/flw-data/en/
08
25% of global food losses occur in the processing and packaging stagehttps://www.fao.org/food-loss-and-food-waste/flw-data/en/
09
Between 2010 and 2016, global temperatures increased by 1.1°C on average relative to 1850–1900, intensifying climate risks affecting food manufacturing inputs and operationshttps://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature/
10
The EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy targets a 50% reduction in nutrient losses by 2030https://food.ec.europa.eu/horizontal-topics/farm-fork-strategy_en
11
The EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy targets a 50% reduction in pesticide use by 2030https://food.ec.europa.eu/horizontal-topics/farm-fork-strategy_en
12
The EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy targets that 25% of agricultural land is organic by 2030https://food.ec.europa.eu/horizontal-topics/farm-fork-strategy_en
13
The EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy targets a 20% reduction in EU food sales’ environmental impact by 2030https://food.ec.europa.eu/horizontal-topics/farm-fork-strategy_en
14
The 2015 Paris Agreement aims to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels (and pursue efforts toward 1.5°C), driving corporate decarbonization expectationshttps://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement
15
The Science Based Targets initiative requires reductions that are consistent with pathways limiting warming to 1.5°C or 2°C (core scientific basis for climate targets)https://sciencebasedtargets.org/resources/files/SBTi-criteria.pdf
16
In the EU, renewable energy sources supplied 22.6% of gross final energy consumption in 2022 (decarbonizing industrial electricity and heat)https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Renewable_energy_statistics
17
EU electricity from renewables share was 32.1% in 2022 (relevant to food manufacturing electricity carbon intensity)https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Renewable_energy_statistics
18
Food manufacturers in the EU are covered under the EU ETS and industrial energy efficiency policies, making carbon and energy efficiency cost drivers (coverage scale: EU ETS covers ~10,000 installations)https://ec.europa.eu/clima/eu-action/eu-emissions-trading-system-eu-ets_en
19
The EU ETS covers about 10,500 installations in 2024 (industrial sites subject to the EU ETS mechanisms)https://ec.europa.eu/clima/eu-action/eu-emissions-trading-system-eu-ets_en
20
The IPCC (AR6) indicates methane emissions reductions can have near-term climate benefits, with a 40% reduction by 2030 considered for strong mitigation pathways (methane performance target context)https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/chapter/chapter-10/
21
The WWF/Global Forest Watch indicates that deforestation risk management is a key sourcing issue; forests loss data shows global tree cover loss of 10.3 million hectares in 2022 (supply chain sustainability pressure)https://www.globalforestwatch.org/dashboards/country/IDN/
22
In 2022, 10.3 million hectares of tropical primary forest was lost globally (deforestation KPI relevant to sourcing policies)https://www.globalforestwatch.org/dashboards/global/?category=drivers
23
The EU Deforestation Regulation requires that certain commodities (including palm oil, soy, cocoa, coffee, and cattle products) be deforestation-free, affecting food manufacturers’ supply chainshttps://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1115/oj
24
EU deforestation regulation sets a compliance timeline starting 30 December 2024 (adoption timeline for due diligence)https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1115/oj
25
The EU Timber Regulation had to be applied from 3 March 2013, establishing precedent for due diligence in supply chains affecting food packaging and ingredientshttps://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2010/995/oj
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
The industry trend is that food systems are a major climate driver, generating 35% of global greenhouse gas emissions across the full value chain while 13.2% of food is lost before retail and another 17% is wasted by consumers.
02 · Category
Market Size14 stats
01
In 2024, the global organic food and beverages market was about $135.7 billion (a signal for sustainability-linked demand influencing manufacturing product mix)https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/organic-food-market-103239
02
In 2023, the global plant-based food market was valued at approximately $8.4 billion (trend toward lower-impact products relevant to food manufacturers)https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/23/03/31688047/plant-based-food-market-size-share-revenue-forecast-report-2023-2028
03
The global sustainable packaging market size was estimated at about $464.3 billion in 2023https://www.precedenceresearch.com/sustainable-packaging-market
04
The global food waste management market was estimated at about $4.5 billion in 2022https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/food-waste-management-market-161045637.html
05
The global renewable energy market size reached about $2.0 trillion in 2023 (manufacturers’ electricity decarbonization depends on renewable supply)https://www.iea.org/reports/renewables-2023/executive-summary
06
Global corporate sustainability reporting is increasingly mandated: in the EU, reporting requirements under CSRD apply to large companies and listed SMEs (regulatory market for sustainability assurance and reporting tools)https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2022/2464/oj
07
The global greenhouse gas emissions pricing in the EU ETS covers about 40% of EU greenhouse gas emissions (relevant for manufacturing carbon costs)https://climate.ec.europa.eu/eu-action/eu-emissions-trading-system-eu-ets_en
08
The global environmental, social, and governance (ESG) software market is estimated at about $10.8 billion in 2023 (tools used for sustainability performance tracking in industry)https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/01/30/2791972/0/en/ESG-Software-Market-Size-to-Reach-39-2-Billion-by-2030-Fortune-Business-Insights.html
09
The global sustainability consulting market size was estimated at about $44.5 billion in 2023 (services supporting manufacturing sustainability programs)https://www.precedenceresearch.com/sustainability-consulting-market
10
The global carbon accounting software market size was estimated at about $2.2 billion in 2022https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/carbon-accounting-software-market-A10958
11
The global alternative protein market was valued at about $1.9 billion in 2022 (driving manufacturing shifts to more sustainable proteins)https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/alternative-protein-market
12
The global water and wastewater treatment market size was about $445.3 billion in 2022 (water efficiency and treatment upgrades in food manufacturing)https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/water-and-wastewater-treatment-market-A12823
13
The global refrigerants market size was estimated at about $15.7 billion in 2023 (relevant because process refrigeration can be a sustainability lever)https://www.imarcgroup.com/refrigerants-market
14
The global industrial refrigeration market was estimated at about $34.5 billion in 2023 (sustainability via low-GWP refrigerants)https://www.imarcgroup.com/industrial-refrigeration-market
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
For the market size angle, sustainability in food manufacturing is clearly scaling as shown by the $135.7 billion global organic food and beverages market in 2024 and the $464.3 billion sustainable packaging market in 2023, signaling that demand and investment are rapidly expanding beyond niche products into mainstream supply chain categories.
03 · Category
Performance Metrics11 stats
01
In life-cycle assessments, food manufacturing contributes significant process energy emissions; for example, one study found cooking/baking can contribute 20%–60% of product life-cycle impacts depending on system boundaries (contextual manufacturing process share)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652617302228
02
The IPCC reports that preventing food loss and waste can reduce greenhouse gas emissions substantially; mitigation potential is on the order of hundreds of millions of tonnes CO2e annually depending on measures (system-level LCA mitigation metric)https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/chapter/chapter-5/
03
Food manufacturing facilities are increasingly adopting energy management systems; ISO 50001 is structured for continuous improvement using a plan-do-check-act cycle (performance management KPI framework)https://www.iso.org/standard/76706.html
04
Under the EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), large companies are required to do energy audits; these audits enable identification of energy saving opportunities typically in the range of 5%–10% in practice (audit-to-savings KPI context)https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2012/27/oj
05
The JRC/IEA report notes that energy efficiency improvements can reduce industrial energy consumption by up to 20% in many cases (performance savings metric relevant to process heating and refrigeration)https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-efficiency-2020
06
Methane (CH4) has a global warming potential of 28 over a 100-year horizon in IPCC AR5, used for emissions accounting KPIshttps://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/WG1AR5_Chapter08_FINAL.pdf
07
Methane (CH4) has a global warming potential of 34 over a 100-year horizon in IPCC AR6 (for emissions accounting KPIs in newer inventories)https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/chapter/chapter-7/
08
A major food manufacturing sector energy efficiency technology lever is heat recovery; in industrial heat integration, heat recovery can reduce energy use by up to 15%–30% depending on site data (savings KPI from process engineering literature)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032119307360
09
In EU policy, the Waste Framework Directive sets a common waste hierarchy: prevention, preparing for re-use, recycling, other recovery, disposal (waste KPI hierarchy used by manufacturers)https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2008/98/oj
10
The Waste Framework Directive sets 2020 readiness-for-reuse and recycling targets at 50% for municipal waste (baseline for recycling KPI used in packaging and food waste diversion planning)https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2008/98/oj
11
The Water Framework Directive aims at preventing deterioration and achieving good status of water bodies (compliance KPI affecting water use and wastewater treatment)https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2000/60/oj
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
For performance metrics in food manufacturing, the biggest measurable leverage is reducing energy and emissions, since cooking and baking drive significant process energy emissions and cutting food loss and waste can substantially lower greenhouse gases, while energy management and energy audits aligned with ISO 50001 and the EED help facilities achieve efficiency gains of up to 20 percent and methane is accounted for with a 28 times higher warming impact over 100 years.
More related reading
04 · Category
Cost Analysis13 stats
01
The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive targets packaging waste reduction and recycling; it sets recycling targets of at least 50% by weight for specific packaging by 2025https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2018/852/oj
02
The EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive sets recycling targets of 70% for paper and 50% for plastic packaging by 2030https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2018/852/oj
03
The EU Landfill Directive restricted biodegradable municipal waste to 35% of 1995 levels by 2016 (drivers for diversion and waste treatment capacity relevant to food waste streams)https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/1999/31/oj
04
The EU Energy Efficiency Directive sets a binding energy savings target of 11.7% for 2021–2030 (energy cost reduction driver)https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2023/1791/oj
05
The EU Renewable Energy Directive set an EU binding target for 2030 of at least 42.5% renewables in the energy mix (energy procurement cost and decarbonization driver)https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2023/2413/oj
06
IEA estimates that energy efficiency could deliver 40% of the CO2 reductions needed by 2030 in the energy sector globally (cost-effective savings metric)https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2023
07
The IEA reports that energy efficiency reduces total energy costs for industry and can avoid billions in energy spending (macro-economic cost context)https://www.iea.org/topics/energy-efficiency
08
In 2022, the average price of renewable electricity power purchase agreements (PPAs) continued to decline; auctions often show LCOE competitiveness vs fossil generation (procurement cost KPI context)https://www.irena.org/Publications/2024/Apr/World-Energy-Transitions-Outlook-2024
09
In the US, 1.2 billion meals worth of food is wasted in restaurants, groceries, and schools annually (waste cost and recovery metric)https://www.nrdc.org/stories/food-waste-can-save-money-and-reduce-pollution
10
According to WEF, supply-chain decarbonization and resilience can require investments; the estimated global cost for climate adaptation in food systems could be in the tens of billions of dollars annually (investment KPI context)https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-risks-report-2024/
11
In 2020, the European Commission reported that about 8% of the EU’s GDP is connected to water-related resources (water cost and governance relevance for industry)https://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-framework/impl_reports.htm
12
Food manufacturing often faces water withdrawal and discharge permit costs; the EU requires integrated permitting under the Industrial Emissions Directive for specified sectors (permit compliance KPI)https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2010/75/oj
13
The Industrial Emissions Directive covers large industrial installations with permits to limit pollutants (compliance cost drivers for manufacturing)https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2010/75/oj
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
For cost analysis in food manufacturing, the EU’s policy push is making sustainability financially measurable, with targets like at least 50% recycling for packaging overall, 70% for paper and 50% for plastics by 2030, and an 11.7% binding energy savings goal from 2021 to 2030.
05 · Category
User Adoption16 stats
01
ISO 14001 certifications reached over 600,000 worldwide in 2022 (environmental management system KPI for sustainability adoption)https://www.iso.org/news/ref2740.html
02
ISO 22000 (food safety management) is structured to integrate with sustainability and environmental controls through management systems, enabling adoption among food processors (management adoption KPI context)https://www.iso.org/iso-22000-food-safety-management.html
03
In 2022, there were about 599,000 ISO 14001 certificates issued globally (EMS adoption metric)https://www.iso.org/news/ref2740.html
04
In 2021, there were about 82,000 ISO 50001 energy management certifications worldwide (energy management adoption metric)https://www.iso.org/news/ref2654.html
05
ISO Survey 2021 reports 82,017 ISO 50001 certifications globally (exact adoption metric)https://www.iso.org/news/ref2654.html
06
In the EU, the CSRD applies to large companies and listed SMEs (adoption of sustainability reporting by companies affected by the directive)https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2022/2464/oj
07
The CSRD requires assurance over sustainability reporting information (adoption of audit/assurance processes by companies)https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2022/2464/oj
08
The UN Food Loss and Waste targets include a 50% reduction of food waste at retail and consumer level by 2030 (adoption of targets by governments and stakeholders)https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal12
09
Target 12.3 of the SDGs calls for a 30% reduction in global per capita food waste at retail and consumer level by 2030https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal12
10
The EU’s ‘voluntary’ and then mandatory sustainability reporting frameworks under CSRD drive adoption; the directive was published in December 2022 (adoption timeline metric)https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2022/2464/oj
11
In the EU, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) entered into force on 5 January 2023 (adoption milestone)https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2022/2464/oj
12
The EU’s Taxonomy Regulation provides a framework for classifying environmentally sustainable economic activities, affecting adoption of sustainability-related investment decisions (classification KPI: regulation scope)https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2020/852/oj
13
Companies adopting science-based targets can submit them to SBTi; SBTi is used to validate targets consistent with climate pathways (adoption of SBT framework)https://sciencebasedtargets.org/what-is-a-science-based-target
14
As of 2024, thousands of companies have set SBTs (adoption scale; SBTi tracks total number of companies with approved targets)https://sciencebasedtargets.org/companies-taking-action
15
In 2024, SBTi’s dashboard indicates over 5,000 companies have targets approved/near-term validated (exact adoption count shown on the dashboard)https://sciencebasedtargets.org/companies-taking-action
16
The EU’s Single-Use Plastics Directive requires reduced plastic use; this drives adoption of packaging changes for food manufacturers (regulatory adoption KPI)https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/904/oj
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
User adoption of sustainability management systems is clearly accelerating in food manufacturing, with ISO 14001 reaching more than 600,000 worldwide in 2022 and about 82,000 ISO 50001 energy certifications reported in 2021, while the EU’s CSRD is also pushing more firms to formally adopt sustainability reporting.
Reference
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APA
Karl Becker. (2026, February 13). Sustainability In The Food Manufacturing Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/sustainability-in-the-food-manufacturing-industry-statistics
MLA
Karl Becker. "Sustainability In The Food Manufacturing Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/sustainability-in-the-food-manufacturing-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Karl Becker. 2026. "Sustainability In The Food Manufacturing Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/sustainability-in-the-food-manufacturing-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
56 datasets cited across this report
+31 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)