Workshop on tackling food waste

Hospitality businesses learned about EU food waste targets and how to reduce food waste at a workshop from a policy officer at the European Commission.

The networking event was held in Limassol on October 27, as part of the European project LIFE FOODprint, aiming to raise awareness and educate stakeholders on the reduction of food waste.

The day-long workshop was organised by Friends of the Earth Cyprus, partners in the FOODprint project co-funded by the European Commission and focused on actions at European and local level to reduce food waste.

The event was attended by project stakeholders and businesses active in the hospitality and tourism sector, local authorities, NGO representatives and academics.

Participants learned about the EU food waste targets from the policy officer in the Food Waste Unit of the European Commission Cristina Lisetchi. It was pointed out that European legislation calls on member states to focus on donating food for human consumption, thus prioritising human consumption over animal feed, as well as reprocessing into non-food products.

The guidelines for food donation by national health authorities and food safety requirements were presented, and the non-profit organisation “Boroume” presented its work, through Angeliki Stamelou, on food donation since 2012.

Food and beverage manager at Ikea in Cyprus, Elias Moustakas, presented the company’s actions on food waste and an innovative method to reduce food waste through digital recording, which has already achieved almost 50 per cent waste reduction.