The European Food Banks Federation (FEBA) works on raising awareness about the problems of food waste and poverty, lifting obstacles to food donation for social purposes, and promoting the circular economy.

This research paper examines the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the functioning of European food banks and how resilient European food banks were in coping with the pandemic in 2020.

The researchers apply a multiple case study to assess how the first year of the pandemic affected European food banks’ operations and the amount of redistributed food. They further investigate innovation practices that have been developed to cope with the new situation, hoping to draw lessons for imminent future waves of the pandemic and other social crises.

Active and intelligent packaging is a new and exciting area of technology, the potential of which has received much attention from the food business operators, retailers and consumers alike.

This Position Paper aims to oversee the barriers identified for the rapid market introduction of active and intelligent packaging and offer recommendations on lifting these barriers. The examples brought forward in this Position Paper are based on the results and experiences from the GLOPACK project and relevant publications, guides and knowledge collected from industry practice.

The circular economy is a key element of the European Green Deal as a concept that can support the transition towards a more sustainable growth model. In recent years there has been a growth of circular economy industrial applications, but evidence suggests that the uptake of circular approaches in many sectors is still limited.

The report titled Barriers and enablers for implementing circular economy business models - Evidence from the electrical and electronic equipment and agri-food value chains provides facts and data on barriers and enablers to the implementation of circular economy business models in two value chains that exhibit high levels of waste generation:

1. electrical and electronic equipment and
2. agri-food.

While the current food system has sustained a growing population and brought economic development, much of it is essentially ‘linear’ and extractive, particularly in more developed markets. It is wasteful, polluting, and depletive, and is the primary driver of biodiversity loss and accounts for a third of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The big food redesign study by Ellen MacArthur Foundation looks at the role fast-moving consumer goods companies (FMCGs) and food retailers can play to move us towards a food system with significant positive impacts for business, people, and the environment. It explores the ways in which food products can be designed in closer collaboration with farmers, for nature. It also investigates the crucial enabling role of policies and incentives.

Regenerating nature requires an economic transformation. To halt and reverse biodiversity loss, we need to fundamentally transform the way we produce, use, and consume our products and food. Conservation and restoration efforts alone – crucial though they are – will not be enough. The circular economy offers a framework for such a transformation. Applied together, its three principles are able to help tackle the root causes of biodiversity loss and enable the regeneration of nature. These biodiversity benefits can be demonstrated across different industry sectors, as shown in this new study by Ellen MacArthur Foundation. This paper also highlights the key steps businesses and policymakers can take to scale the circular economy potential and help shape a nature-positive future.

Through fermentation, bread scraps can produce chemical compounds for the pharmaceutical and food industries, fuels and enzymes. The starters (which kickstart the fermentation process) obtained by this project confirm the huge economic and technological potential of a growing substrate obtained from low-cost matrices.

The protocol includes homogenisation of the waste bread (leavened bakery products), with the addition of enzymes and final sterilisation.

The culture medium can be liquid (broth), solid (agar) or dehydrated. The substrate can be used for cultivating lactic bacteria, yeasts and moulds (for the food industry).

About 10% of the bread waste produced monthly can be used to yield a culture medium for bacterial starters.