Work towards the project objectives has started during the visits among partners, and all project deliverables which were due to date, along with project milestones, have been completed.
An initial step performed within WP1 was the performance of a review of food waste conversion pathways, and related trade-offs and opportunities. In an early study (also resulting from project secondments), the Ecological performances of EU28 food waste treatment processes have been assessed through Life-Cycle Assessment and Emergy Accounting methods, providing information from a donor and a consumer side perspectives for supporting policies. The main identified opportunities are the reduced environmental pressure and better management of resources, the avoided loss of economic value and the generation of work opportunities.
Furthermore, WP1 has established the need for a multi-stakeholder, multi-dimensional and multi-criteria approach for the evaluation of the transition towards a circular economy across multiple sustainability dimensions. Work performed in the project discusses the capability and the limits of selected assessment methods (such as Life Cycle Assessment, Energy and Emergy Accounting, Life Cycle Costing, Social Life Cycle Analysis).
Theoretical and practical problems inherent to the design of these methods have been discussed, and then applied to a wide range of case studies, that were developed in collaboration with industrial beneficiary partners. Specific case studies have been aimed at investigating the potential of Circular Economy practices in several agri-food supply chains, including: meat additives; lemons; olive oil; wine-making; cocoa; wastewaters.
Within WP2, the project also questioned, in a critical manner, the foundations of the Circular Economy discourse. In several related publications, researchers from the project discussed how the Circular Economy concept could be problematic for a number of reasons, claiming that the biggest shortcoming of the CE discourse is represented by its apolitical and technocratic framing. There is indeed a lack of discussion about the basic assumptions regarding social and economic structures on which the circular economy should be based, with research predominantly focusing on technical and practical questions. The project performed an analysis in terms of understanding the actors and policies that are relevant for the proper implementation of innovative Circular Economy models, considering both a bottom-up and a top-down approach. Also, the project looked at the potential tensions arising as a result of the implementation of Circular Economy practices in agri-food supply chains. Researchers from the consortium will also explore alternative business models (mainly co-operatives, family businesses and small firms) and their potential in relation to the Circular Economy, producing recommendations for both businesses and policy-makers.
