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TRANSFORMING FOOD WASTE TRANSFORMING FOOD WASTE INTO A RESOURCEINTO A RESOURCE

Last Minute Market – a win-win Last Minute Market – a win-win case studycase study

Prof Andrea Segrè & Dr Silvia GaianiFaculty of Agriculture

Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna (Italy)

Brussels – 28° Brussels Development MeetingEuropean Commission

Food waste has rapidly become a Food waste has rapidly become a burning issue…burning issue…

• Food waste is expected to rise to about 126 Mt by 2020 without additional prevention policy or activities (Eurostat projections).

• 935 million people are hungry (FAO), 300 million are obese and 1 billion are overweight (WHO).

- The global agricultural production could feed 12 billion people -- the double of the current world population (FAO) and food surplus would be enough to feed 3 billion people (Stuart: Uncovering the global food scandal, 2009)

Globally, only 43% of fruits and vegetables are consumed, the remaining 57% is wasted.

Between 30% and 50% of all the food produced is wasted

Fig 1. Lost of calories due to food waste (from 4,600 kcal to 2000 kcal)- Smil

SOME DATA ON FOOD WASTESOME DATA ON FOOD WASTE

Avoidable and potentially Avoidable and potentially avoidable food waste – data by avoidable food waste – data by

WRAP 2012WRAP 2012

Total domestic food waste in the UK= 25, 717 milion tonsTotal domestic food waste in the UK= 25, 717 milion tons22% = potentially avoidable domestic food waste in the UK22% = potentially avoidable domestic food waste in the UK

78% = avoidable domestic food waste in the UK78% = avoidable domestic food waste in the UK

78%

22%

Totale = 25,717 milioni di tonnellate

Sprechi evitabili Sprechi poptenzialmente evitabili

FOOD WASTE IN THE EU 27FOOD WASTE IN THE EU 27

The total amount of food waste the EU 27 is estimated at 89 Mt, i.e. 179 kg/capita/year. Households produce the largest fraction of EU food waste among the four sectors considered, at 43% of the total or about 38Mt (76kg per capita). NB - Methodologies for collecting and calculating the food waste data submitted to EUROSTAT differs between Member States, who are free to choose their own methodology.

FOOD WASTE: IMPACTSFOOD WASTE: IMPACTSEnvironmental impacts

Carbon Footprint (1 ton of food waste generates 3.8 tons of CO2 equivalent emissions (WRAP)

Water Footprint (to produce 1kg of meat, 15.400 litres of water are necessary)Ecological Footprint (The UK's average ecological footprint is 5.45 global hectares

per capita (gha)

Economic impactImproving the efficiency of the food supply chain could help to bring down the

cost of food to the consumer and thus increase access.

Social impactThe amount of wasted food in industrialized countries (222 million tons) is equal

to the production of food available in sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tons).

Nutritional impactOvernutrition as food waste (Smil)

HOW TO REDUCE FOOD WASTE?HOW TO REDUCE FOOD WASTE?4 Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle, recover4 Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle, recover

+ 1 P: PREVENTION+ 1 P: PREVENTION

Source at reduction, better logistics and marketing strategies, commercial measurement and tracking software, home compost

and better planning alongside municipal separated collection could all represent alternatives to food waste incineration and disposal.

1.Awareness campaigns for citizens, students...2.Proper policies (laws on labelling, packaging...)3.Food recovery initiatives (NGOs)4.Retailers initiatives (against BOGOF)5.International/national projects6.Research7.Sell online/in store at reduced prices8.Audit / reward for shops- retailers reducing food waste

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A case study: Italy and Last Minute A case study: Italy and Last Minute Market Market

Food waste recovery represents an important part of the food system, although it is NOT a solution to food waste.•In the last decade, many new initiatives whose aim is to recover food and convert it into valuable end uses, have spread all over the world.

•LAST MINUTE MARKET – Italy•LMM = food recovery

•LMM= waste prevention (awareness campaign + spreco zero)

LMM is an academic spin off originated at the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Bologna in 1999.It links shops and producers who have unsold food which would otherwise be discarded with people and charities who need food (and NOT only food). It is active in more than 40 Italian towns and abroad.

Win-WinWin-Win

For profit companies

Publicadministration

Charityorganizations

It provides economic, social and environmental benefits by reducing the amount of waste and improving assistance to people in need.

LAST MINUTE MARKET: RECOVERYLAST MINUTE MARKET: RECOVERYWin-Win StrategyWin-Win Strategy

Trend of the value and the amount of the recovered products from the supermarket

Source: LMM data

Retailer caseRetailer case

Year Tons €

2005 92.4 251,466

2006 61 161,339

2007 49.9 203,613

2008 53 197,828

Improved efficiency on supermarket management

Decreasing quantity

LMM 1° year

The Joint Declaration against Food The Joint Declaration against Food WasteWaste

•It was presented for the first time by Prof Andrea Segrè and Dr Silvia Gaiani at the European Parliament on the 28 th of October 2010.

•It is made up of 10 goals: EVERY YEAR A NEW GOAL IS ADDED!•its main aims are to reduce by 50% the global amount of food + water + energy wasted in the food supply chain and to make food waste one of the priorities on the European Commission’s agenda.

•The declaration has been signed by more than 500 people at www.lastminutemarket.it

•2012 newly introduced goal: REDUCTION OF ENERGY WASTETo produce a box of cereal, a farmer consumes energy equal to 2,790 kcal (just to keep the machinery running and get the fertilizer and pesticides).

The European Resolution to reduce The European Resolution to reduce food wastefood waste

•Based on the Declaration, a Resolution has been elaborated by the Agriculture and Rural Commission (MEP Salvatore Caronna and supported by Paolo de Castro, President) in collaboration with LMM.•It was presented at the DG Agriculture of the European Parliament on the 23 rd of November 2011.

•The Resolution has been approved in the Plenary Session of the European Parliament on the 19° of January 2012: On how to avoid food wastage: strategies for a more efficient food chain in the EU (2011/2175(INI)•http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/organes/agri/agri_20110711_1500.htm

•It should then be passed to the European Commission for legislative procedure.•We consider the resolution a great achievement and a fundamental step in the fight against food waste

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The European Resolution to reduce The European Resolution to reduce food wastefood waste

•Some of the main points of the EP Resolution:•5. Calls on the Commission to support measures aimed at reducing waste along the entire food supply chain where production methods, post-harvest management, processing and packaging infrastructure and processes are problematic and inadequate.

•7. Notes that there is no harmonised definition of food waste in Europe; therefore invites the Commission to put forward a legislative proposal defining the typology of ‘food waste’ and asks that bio-waste be incorporated into the existing rules on waste.

•9. Urges the Commission and the Member States to promote awareness-raising campaigns to inform the public about the causes and effects of food waste and ways of reducing it……

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The European Resolution to reduce The European Resolution to reduce food waste: main pointsfood waste: main points

• 11. Calls on the Commission to determine ways and means of better involving agri-food businesses, wholesale markets, shops, distribution chains, and public and private caterers and restaurants in anti-waste practices.

• 12. Invites the Commission to consider possible amendments to the public procurement rules on catering services so that, all other conditions being equal, when contracts are awarded priority is given to undertakings that guarantee that they will redistribute for free any unallocated (unsold) items to groups of citizens…

• 15. Urges the Council and the Commission to designate 2014 the European Year against food waste, as a key information and awareness-raising initiative for European citizens

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THANK YOU!Andrea Segrè & Silvia Gaiani

www.lastminutemarket.it ww.unannocontrolospreco.org