Europatat is part of an international consortium involved in the research project WASTELESS (“Waste Quantification Solutions to Limit Environmental Stress”), which aims to develop tools and recommendations for measuring and monitoring food loss and waste (FLW), which will ultimately contribute to its reduction by at least 20% annually. Additionally, WASTELESS will carry research activities on innovative processes and streams to valorise unavoidable FLW. The project will take place over three years (2023-2025) with a total budget of EUR 5,5 M from the EU Horizon Europe program (No GA 101084222).
Measuring and reducing food waste in the EU
According to the European Parliament, currently, each European citizen wastes approximately 173343 kg of food annually. This means that around 88 million tonnes of food are wasted every year across the 27 EU Member States, costing EUR 143 billion. Food waste comes from several sources including significant proportions from primary production (58%) and households (22%). The remainder comes from food service (7%) and retail (3%). To address high levels of household food waste, WASTELESS will carry out case studies to understand utilisation and role/contribution of specific food groups such as fruits and vegetables, fruit juices, processed meat, dairy products and cereals. These studies are our best ways to evaluate and measure objectively mechanisms of action that will enable reduction and re-use of this waste in the long term.
WASTELESS will also explore ways to measure food loss and waste in critical and less-known food supply chains and propose ways of quantifying the data. At the same time, it will develop a toolbox, an innovative set of decision-support tools for all those working along the food chain as well policymakers, developed in partnership with consumers and non-governmental organisations as well as HORECA representatives through hubs across the EU. More details will be available soon on wastelesseu.com.
For more information, you can visite the WASTELESS website and follow the project on Twitter and LinkedIn.
