EU lawmakers gave a final green light Tuesday to a law on slashing back the mountains of food wasted in Europe each year, and curbing the environmental impact of so-called fast fashion.

Brussels estimates the 27-nation bloc generates around 130 kilogrammes of food waste per person each year — adding up to 60 million tonnes — as well as around 15 kilos of textile waste.

By curbing food waste, the EU aims by extension to cut the amount of water, fertiliser and energy used to produce, transform and store foodstuffs that end up being thrown away.

The same logic applies to textiles, where the EU says manufacturing a single cotton T-shirt requires 2,700 litres of fresh water — the amount the average person drinks in two and a half years.

Lawmakers approved without amendment the text previous

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