Currently, the European Union (EU) food chain generates around 88 million tonnes of food waste every year. This has a huge impact on society, economy, and the environment, and that is why EU food industry has always been committed to keeping on improving its sustainable practices.
The WASTELESS project - Waste Quantification Solutions To Limit Environmental Stress - aims: (1) to develop and test a mix of innovative tools and methodologies for Food Loss and Waste (FLW) measurement and monitoring, generating robust FLW data on critical and poorly understood Food Supply Chains (FSC), (2) to recommend a harmonized methodological Framework for FLW quantification, and (3) to develop a decision support systemic Toolbox targeting all food value chain stakeholders enabling the duplication of WASTELESS collection points across EU territories and different food commodities.
To address high levels of food waste, WASTELESS will carry out case studies, namely Food industries, Retail, Food services, Households, and Selected Supply Chains, to understand utilisation and role/contribution of specific food groups.
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.
The WASTELESS, funded by EU’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation programme (Grant Agreement no. 101084222), is coordinated by the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD) and comprises a multidisciplinary consortium of 16 beneficiaries, 12 affiliated entities and 1 associated partner from 14 countries (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey), with expertise ranging from agronomy, technology, food science, food technology, biology and ecosystems.
Overall, WASTELESS will contribute to achieve ‘Farm2Fork’ objectives and targets and ‘European Green Deal’, which aim to reduce amounts of food waste by at least 20% annually in the EU. In addition, the outcomes from this project could significantly contribute to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade, contributing to global climate change mitigation strategies.
