Ways to Reduce Consumer Food Waste

Presentation: Chairing
Date: 24 May 2018
Location: Vilnius, Lithuania
Chairing: Stephanie Wunder

Changing consumer behaviour to reduce food waste is of increasing importance for sustainable food systems. At its meeting in May 2018 in Vilnius, Latvia, the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste has discussed this issue in an interactive panel discussion. Stephanie Wunder, Senior Fellow at the Ecologic Institute facilitated the panel discussion. Experts from different countries showed with illustrative examples how much the success of campaigns against food waste depends on strategic planning, identification of regional food waste patterns, evaluation of results and attracting media attention.

The platform meeting also highlighted several results of the ongoing EU research project REFRESH (www.eu-refresh.org), for which the Ecologic Institute coordinates the communication activities.

A full videostream of the event is available on the Platform website in English, Lithuanian, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Chinese. REFRESH coordinator Toine Timmermans (Wageningen UR) presented "Towards a circular economy in food: the role of public-private partnerships" (05:22). Within the afternoon session on consumer food waste (7:17-8:52), Dr. Erica van Herpen (Wageningen UR) presented insights from REFRESH consumer behaviour research on food waste (7:55). David Rogers (WRAP) presented on consumer food waste behaviour change in the UK.

EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis also highlighted the REFRESH Community of Experts online platform.

Discussion at the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste in Vilnius

European Approach for Reducing Consumer Food Waste

Putting Insights in Practice

Year 2020

Publication:Report

This report analyses two specific activities within the REFRESH project: First, the dissemination of the Framework for Action ("Blueprint") that helps national governments to build Voluntary Agreements with the relevant stakeholders in the sector to reduce food loss and waste and second, work with Standardisation Bodies, specifically barcode standards used by retailers.

REFRESH External Outreach Report

Dissemination of the Framework for Action (“Blueprint”) and work with Standardisation Bodies

Year 2019

Publication:Brochure

The final results brochure of the REFRESH project provides an overview of the work undertaken within the project including key insights and links to the results that are available online at the REFRESH project website.

REFRESH Final Results Brochure

Year 2020

Publication:Report

This report provides a detailed overview of REFRESH's activities as well as an assessment of their outreach and impact. It also reflects on the lessons learned of REFRESH's communication activities, including barriers and success formats.

Final Report on Dissemination and Exploitation of REFRESH Results

Year 2019

Publication:Video

This video summarises the main activities and findings of the five national platforms. In order to adapt actions and responses to food waste challenges nationally, REFRESH established national networking platforms in the following five countries: Germany, Hungary, Spain, the Netherlands and China. The national platforms set up voluntary agreements and started different pilot activities against food waste, which are presented in this video.

National Platforms to Fight Food Waste

Results of the EU Research Project REFRESH

Year 2019

Publication:Video

This video shows options studied within REFRESH of how to use food side flows in a more sustainable way than it is done today. One example is feeding treated surplus food to omnivorous livestock.

Valorising Unavoidable Food Waste

Results of the EU Research Project REFRESH

Year 2019

Publication:Video

This video summarises the REFRESH project’s activities and findings in the field of consumer behavior. Households account for more than half of the food waste generated in the EU. A large survey conducted by REFRESH in four European countries revealed relevant information on consumer food waste behavior that was used to draw conclusions for policy makers.

Reducing Consumer Food Waste

Results of the EU Research Project REFRESH

Year 2019

Publication:Video

In 2019, the European research project REFRESH has come to an end. Since 2015, the 26 project partners from across Europe and China have made considerable progress in tackling food losses and food waste along production and supply chains with an integrated approach towards a more sustainable and responsible food system. This video summarises the main activities and findings within the project's three focus areas.

Research Against Food Waste

Results of the EU Research Project REFRESH

Year 2019

Publication:Web Application

The production of food results in by-products. Instead of disposing them as waste, they can also be valorised into new products. This quiz lets you find out what new products can be made from this food waste. The player scrolls two image galleries and chooses two pictures that correspond as food waste and new product. There are eight possible pairs to be found. How many pairs can you find?

Quiz: Food Waste Valorisation

Year 2019

Event: EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste (FLW)
Organizer: Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG Health and Food Safety), International
Chairing: Stephanie Wunder
Date: 24 May 2018
Location: Vilnius, Lithuania
Language: English
Project: Resource Efficient Food and dRink for the Entire Supply cHain (REFRESH)
Project ID: 2804
Keywords: Consumer Policy

Food

Foreign Policy

Resource Conservation + Circular Economy

food waste, waste management, sustainable food systems, food policy, resource efficiency, Policy analysis, pilot projects, public-private partnerships, stakeholder engagement, knowledge transfer

Europe, China

Videostream of the event

Attachments

EU FLW Platform meeting agenda 24 May 2018 (206.44 KB)

Presentation "Towards a circular economy in food: the role of public-private partnerships" by T. Timmermans (2.95 MB)

Further Links

REFRESH project website

REFRESH Community of Experts

EventConferenceREFRESH Food Waste 2017

REFRESH Food Waste 2017 brought together diverse stakeholder groups from across Europe working on food waste prevention, reduction and valorisation. The Conference on 18 May at the Umweltforum in Berlin featured keynote addresses by the Parliamentary State Secretary... Read more

Conference:REFRESH Food Waste 2017

Date: 18 May 2017
Location: Berlin, Germany

PublicationPosterREFRESH Food Waste Solution Contest

REFRESH Food Waste Solution Contest Poster

The poster summarizes and illustrates the REFRESH Food Waste Solution Contest. It was presented at the REFRESH Food Waste 2017 Multistakeholder Conference in Berlin. The poster is available for download. ... Read more

Ecologic Institute (2017): REFRESH Food Waste Solution Contest. Poster.

NewsREFRESH Food Waste Solution Contest

Meetings of the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste

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