Food and technology scientist Carolina Peñalva Lapuente works at Aitiip Centro Tecnológico in Zaragoza, Spain. She is the project coordinator of the Horizon 2020 funded SISTERS project. This projects works on systemic innovations for a sustainable reduction of European food waste.
Why is food waste an issue in Europe?
By reducing food losses and waste to help achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, we can support the fight against climate change, save nutritious food for redistribution to those in need, helping to eradicate hunger and malnutrition, and save money for farmers, companies and households.
Halving per capita food loss and waste across the EU by 2030 is crucial. However, to achieve a sustainable scenario, it requires innovations and action plans that attain a real significance at all relevant links in the food chain.
More data and more accurate measurements of food waste are still needed to increase attention to food waste occurring at the primary production level and the early stages of the supply chain.
Several studies for example reveal that the scale of pre-retail waste in Europe is substantial: an estimated 30% to 59% of Europe’s total food waste occurs at the pre-retail stage, and these numbers are likely to be underestimated.
Food waste should be addressed holistically, as early as from the farm and all the way to the fork, as it has significant impacts on the environment, economy and society.
You are the coordinator of the Horizon 2020 SISTERS project that is developing innovative packaging and a platform for farmers to sell unwanted and excess production – how will these actions help reduce food waste and promote sustainable consumer behaviours?
Carolina Peñalva Lapuente: Most fruits and vegetables are wasted during the production stage because markets factors force farmers to grow a surplus every year (up to 33% of our crops can be left unpicked).
This is in part due to market demands of precise quantities at precise times and also due to the high aesthetic standards. It is almost impossible for farmers to have a steady crop yield that is timed perfectly to what markets need, so most farms overplant to minimise the risky consequences of bad weather, pests, etc. This food surplus can represent more than the 20% of the EU production, leading farmers to lose a large part of their investment. So the discarded food, which is in still satisfactory conditions, is expensive economically, ecologically and socially.
SISTERS is designing the first European Short Chain Platform that allows farmers to sell their discarded production, favouring local economies and farmer incomes using IT tools and providing less favoured consumers access to nutritious food.
Fresh produce requires meticulous care as it moves from farm to processor, wholesaler or retailer and end consumer. Appropriate food packaging reduces food waste by preventing damage during transport and significantly extending shelf-life. Food packaging is often made of non-biodegradable plastics, sometimes in combination with other materials like aluminium, making it hard to recycle.
SISTERS is developing bio-based food packaging that increases shelf-life and can be easily biodegraded, composted and/or recycled. QR and dynamic labelling incorporated in the packaging is expected to improve the sustainability awareness of retailers and consumers.
Reusable packaging at different levels of the food chain can be effective in reducing both packaging and food waste impacts. A lot of fresh food products that currently get thrown away could be saved without causing damage to the environment due to plastic accumulation, residues, etc.
Retailers/wholesalers often push responsibility for reducing food waste onto producers and consumers; why is it important they play their part and how can this be done?
Carolina Peñalva Lapuente: The retail sector has been estimated to generate about 5% of total annual food waste in the EU. However, closer analysis reveals that retailers also influence waste indirectly both up and down the supply chain, primarily through a variety of marketing practices which encourage over purchasing and leads to household waste, but also by imposing arbitrary grading standards on produce.
The causes of food waste linked to retailing ranges from inadequate storage conditions or packaging breakages during distribution from processors, so improvements in transport conditions are pivotal to reduce the discarded products by wholesalers and retailers.
Unsustainable practices are also prevalent among retailers due to their restrictive aesthetic standards. Rewards for retailers committed to practices decreasing food loss and waste can be considered to promote sustainable patterns.
Approximately 50% of consumers say current environmental labels are not clear, and only 6% of EU citizens trust producers’ claims about their products’ environmental performance completely. Around 38% of EU consumers would be willing to switch their usual supermarket to one that is more sustainable.
Guidelines for retailers with ten practices that retailers and wholesalers should implement to develop their activities in a more sustainable manner, are being produced in the SISTERS project.
The right application of these practices will involve achieving a seal of excellence that can be promoted to consumers, who will have the guarantee that the retailer promotes sustainability. Importantly for this stage, we include a dynamic label that changes the price of the product automatically when the food products are closer to the expiration date.
What is your outlook on tackling food waste in Europe?
Carolina Peñalva Lapuente: I’m cautiously optimistic about tackling food waste in Europe. The EU has made significant strides in addressing this issue, particularly with the Farm to Fork Strategy and the proposed legally binding targets to reduce food waste by 2030, as part of the revision to the Waste Framework Directive.
Members of the European Parliament voted on the Waste Framework Directive to raise legally binding food waste reduction targets even higher, to 20% for processing and manufacturing, and 40% for retail, restaurants, and households [instead of the 10% and 30% proposed by the Directive].
However, the result is still at odds with previous commitments to slash food waste by 50% from farm to fork, as expressed in the EU Green Deal and UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Therefore, there is still a lot of room for increasing reduction targets and improvements where the EU could enhance its efforts. These include local level policies addressing specific regional challenges and leveraging local resources, increased funding for research, public awareness campaigns and enhanced collaboration between governments, businesses and NGOs.