Food waste, in Europe about 59 million tons of food are thrown away every year: that’s almost 131 kilos per person

ROMA – In Europe, almost 59 million tons of food are wasted, something like 131 kg of waste per person every year. The Executive Agency for Health and Digital European Commission – we learn from Info-Cooperation, the website of the community of Italian humanitarian workers – has published a call to combat food waste, providing information to consumers on the necessary change in their behavior and supporting awareness on this issue, with suggestions and practical tools.

The call finances the following categories of activities:

1) – Behavioral change interventions (e.g. to stimulate food waste prevention at consumer level such as specific tools and suggestions for households and food services, coaching programs, etc.);

2) – Education and training (e.g. school curricula, staff training and actions in school canteens);

Awareness campaigns (on a local, regional or national scale);

3 ) – Measurement and reporting tools and solutions to prevent food waste at the consumer level (e.g. mobile applications and other monitoring tools in addition to self-reporting);

4) – Studies, data collection and experimental actions that broaden the evidence base for consumer food waste prevention interventions (e.g. audience segmentation studies to better personalize and target actions).

Projects are eligible in the EU 27 countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and in the OCTs.

READ THE NOTICE

Who can submit proposals. Public and private entities established in eligible countries such as Consumer Bodies, Cooperatives, Training Bodies, Local Authorities and Public Administration, NGOs, SMEs, Schools can submit project proposals. Project proposals can be submitted individually or in partnership.

The financial endowment. The call has a financial endowment of 4 million euros and the grant covers up to 50% of the eligible costs for projects with a budget of approximately 100,000 to 300,000 euros. Project duration between 18 and 24 months. The deadline for submitting projects is set for 25 September 2024.