REFRESH
"Resource Efficient Food and dRink for the Entire Supply cHain" (REFRESH) is an EU research project taking action against food waste. 26 partners from 12 European countries and China work towards the project's goal to contribute towards Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 of halving per capita food waste at the retail and consumer level and reducing food losses along production and supply chains, reducing waste management costs, and maximizing the value from un-avoidable food waste and packaging materials.
REFRESH focuses on the reduction of avoidable waste and improved valorisation of food resources. Backed by research to better understand the drivers of food waste, the project supports better decision-making by industry and individual consumers. The project takes an innovative, systemic approach to curb food waste through a holistic "Framework for Action". REFRESH builds on and goes beyond existing initiatives to develop, evaluate, and ensure the spread of social, technological, and organisational insights and practices related to food waste. This is underpinned with guidance to legislators and policy makers to help support effective governance to tackle food waste.
The project aims to:
Develop strategic agreements to reduce food waste with governments, business and local stakeholders in four pilot countries (Spain, Germany, Hungary and the Netherlands). A call for pilots will be issued for the business community and other stakeholders to participate in testing new approaches to reduce food waste and replicate these approaches into other countries.
Formulate EU policy recommendations and support national implementation of food waste policy frameworks.
Design and develop technological innovations to improve valorisation of food waste, e.g. from food processing, and ICT-based platforms and tools to support new and existing solutions to reduce food waste.
For more information please visit the SavingFood project website.
