The City of Ferrara, along with 7 other European partners, hosts the 2nd workshop of the ECOWASTE4FOOD project on 19th & 20th April.
During two days project partners and stakeholders will discuss the role of eco-innovation through various dimensions from processing to fork: limitation of waste production at source in the food processing industry, conception and design of products that help reducing the food waste by the end users, catering and individual consumers, use of products today considered as unusable or unserviceable products and last services provided that help reduce food waste directly or by a modification of consumption patterns.
Resource efficiency is at the core of the Environmental Policy of the City of Ferrara. Administration's environmental commitments include the promotion of responsible use of natural resources and energy, the reduction of waste, reuse and recycling, as well as promoting education for sustainability. The Municipality of Ferrara also is a member of the Sprecozero.net network.
The City Councilor for Environment Ms.Caterina Ferri recalls that "the theme of eco-innovation is definitely not new to Ferrara, it is to mention the Life + project "LOWaste" but also the experience of the petrochemical plant adjacent to the City, that is redeveloping as technological center and laboratory for eco-sustainability and innovation. But neither is food waste: the Last Minute Market service, in synergy with the tax breaks provided by the Municipal Waste Regulations, allowed to collect and distribute, from 2004 to 2016, over 819 tons of food otherwise destined for disposal".
Samuel Féret, ECOWASTE4FOOD Project Manager at CIHEAM-IAMM, adds: “this is the first in a series of meetings to develop a process of inter-disciplinary learning aimed to transfer, adapt and replicate eco-innovative best practices supported by European and Regional funds for 2020 and beyond”.
ECOWASTE4FOOD "Supporting eco-innovation to reduce food waste and promote efficient economy in the consumption of resources" is a four-year Interreg Europe project.
The project led by CIHEAM-IAMM gathers City and Regional authorities from seven countries across Europe: Catalonia, through the Waste Agency of Catalonia (ARC); France (Provence Alpes Côte d'Azur Region); United Kingdom (Devon County Council), Poland (Wielkopolska Region), Italy (City of Ferrara), Greece (Region of Western Macedonia) and Finland (Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia).
The objective is to deal with the recurrent loss of up to 30% of the European agricultural production that is not consumed -not to mention the waste associated with an increasingly unbalanced diet- and also show that food waste can be managed to contribute to an efficient economy respectful with the environment and an adequate use of resources.
Ferrara contributes about 12% to the production of Emilia Romagna food waste, which, according to a regional study Coldiretti, is around 350,000 tonnes per year for a value of over one billion euro.
More information and insights on ECOWASTE4FOOD project can be found at the web page www.interregeurope.eu/ecowaste4food/ @ecowaste4food
Contact Samuel Féret: +33608831235 [email protected]
