1. TRANSFORMING FOOD WASTE INTO A RESOURCE
Last Minute Market – a win-win case study
Prof Andrea Segrè & Dr Silvia Gaiani
Faculty of Agriculture
Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna (Italy)
Brussels – 28° Brussels Development Meeting
European Commission

2. Food waste has rapidly become a 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)

3. SOME DATA ON FOOD WASTE
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

4. Avoidable and potentially avoidable food waste – data by WRAP Total domestic food waste in the UK= 25, 717 milion tons 22% = potentially avoidable domestic food waste in the UK 78% = avoidable domestic food waste in the UK

5. FOOD 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.

6. Environmental impacts
FOOD WASTE: IMPACTS
Environmental impacts
Carbon Footprint (1 ton of food waste generates 3.8 tons of CO2 equivalent emissions (WRAP)
Water Footprint (to produce 1kg of meat, litres of water are necessary)
Ecological Footprint (The UK's average ecological footprint is 5.45 global hectares per capita (gha)
Economic impact
Improving the efficiency of the food supply chain could help to bring down the cost of food to the consumer and thus increase access.
Social impact
The 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 impact
Overnutrition as food waste (Smil)

7. HOW TO REDUCE FOOD WASTE
HOW TO REDUCE FOOD WASTE? 4 Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle, recover + 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.
Awareness campaigns for citizens, students...
Proper policies (laws on labelling, packaging...)
Food recovery initiatives (NGOs)
Retailers initiatives (against BOGOF)
International/national projects
Research
Sell online/in store at reduced prices
Audit / reward for shops- retailers reducing food waste

8. A case study: Italy and Last Minute 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.

9. LAST MINUTE MARKET: RECOVERY
Win-Win Strategy
For profit companies
Win-Win
Charity
organizations
Public
administration
It provides economic, social and environmental benefits by reducing the amount of waste and improving assistance to people in need.

10. Retailer case Improved efficiency on supermarket management Year Tons
Trend of the value and the amount of the recovered products from the supermarket
Year
Tons €
2005
92.4
251,466
2006 61
161,339
2007
49.9
203,613
2008 53
197,828
LMM 1°
year
Decreasing quantity
Source: LMM data 10

11. The Joint Declaration against Food Waste
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
2012 newly introduced goal: REDUCTION OF ENERGY WASTE
To 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).

12. The European Resolution to reduce food 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)
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

13. The European Resolution to reduce food 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……

14. The European Resolution to reduce food 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

15. THANK YOU. Andrea Segrè & Silvia Gaiani www. lastminutemarket. it ww
THANK YOU! Andrea Segrè & Silvia Gaiani ww.unannocontrolospreco.org