Strategies to Reduce and Manage Food Waste in Central Europe

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Wasting food is not only an ethical and economic issue but it also depletes the environment of limited natural resources. Additionally, methane emissions from improper food waste management cause high greenhouse gas emissions. STREFOWA will address and improve food waste management in selected central European functional urban areas by fostering food waste prevention and treatment, leading to a reduction of environmental impacts (esp. greenhouse gas emissions). Project results will contribute to raising knowledge and implementation capacity regarding food waste management of all target groups along the whole food supply chain (inclunding private persons, local authorities, gastronomes, retailers, teachers, waste management authorities, ...). A real reduction of food waste in different areas and optimisation in food waste treatment will be reached by the: - Implementation of different pilot and demonstration actions; - Establishment of an appropriate transnational stakeholder platform; - Implementation of a web based decision support tool tailored to different users to provide best practice guideline and trainings. The focus on the central Europe region is new and not least due to the common cultural and culinary roots reasonable. The innovative approach is not only to focus either on food waste prevention or waste treatment but to see the waste management as a whole following the waste hierarchy as described in the European waste framework directive. Because of close business ties within the central European region e.g. in retail for NGOs a transnational cooperation and implementation of a transnational multi-stakeholder network guarantees an added value compared to single projects. Information added on 2020-05-18, regarding the mitigation of the effects of COVID-19 (the coronavirus pandemic that started in 2019) (English language only): Food waste was already a pressing issue before, and panic buying after the lock-down made it even worse. The guidelines for consumers developed by STREFOWA are now more useful than ever. They help citizens to better plan buying and organising groceries at home, so that nothing ends up in the bin.

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