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PRIMA impact will be achieved via four main innovation domains: 1) practical, easy-to-market and
consumer-driven technological innovation; 2) advanced scientific and technical innovation, which
will be either easily adoptable and transferable to technological outputs by the industry or already
developed in house by a joint effort of research performers and industrial partners; 3) social
innovation, thus valorizing the outstanding potential of the civil society in the unprecedented
consumer-based challenge to the key barriers and opportunities to the achievement of a near-to-
zero-waste society; 4) food chain innovation, thus responding to the need of “fostering a transition
towards more sustainable food systems” (FoodDrinkEurope Competitiveness Report 2014) by
increasing efficiency and decreasing waste generation along the whole food supply chain, from
production to consumption.
In providing these strategic and valuable impacts, PRIMA will primarily accomplish the complex EU
scenario depicted by: Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC), Landfill Directive (Directive
99/31/EC), Communication on bio-waste management (SEC(2010) 577), Sustainable Consumption
and Production and Sustainable Industrial Policy (SCP/SIP, COM(2008) 397 final) Action Plan,
Thematic Strategy on the prevention and recycling of waste (SEC(2005) 1681, SEC(2005) 1682), the
Green Paper on the management of Biowaste (SEC(2008) 2936), Council Directive on waste
(75/442/EEC), Council Regulation on the supervision and control of shipments of waste
(259/93/EC), Commission Decision establishing a list of wastes (2000/532/EC), Regulation on health
rules concerning animal by-products not intended for human consumption (1774/2002/EC), Council
Directive on nutrition labelling for foodstuffs (90/496/EEC), Council Directive on food additives
other than colours and sweeteners (95/2/EC).
Achieving the European policy target of reducing food waste by 50% by 2030, including at the
consumer level
Developing breakthrough innovations easily adoptable by the food and drink industries is
mandatory to make them protagonist and pioneers in the adoption of technical, technological,
managerial and behavioural solutions to reduce waste generation, improve waste exploitation and
optimize waste management, along the food chain. Enabling the EU decision- and policy-makers
with an array of recommendations and guidelines resulting from a thorough discussion and a mutual
understanding at edge between consumer and business behaviours, PRIMA will be the first-of-a-
kind integrated effort that will act as a Euro-Mediterranean catalyst in speeding up a process in
which the industrial innovation framework influencing food waste generation
will be moved by the
choice of consumers of promoting a zero waste society. This will result into the request of a bottom-
up consumer- and environment-friendly EU legislative supporting and facilitating the spreading of
the proposed anti-waste measures into the most diverse (geographically and socio-economically)
real life conditions.
Reduction in waste management costs, and in environmental impacts, including emission of
greenhouse gases.
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Food waste has many negative economic and environmental impacts, reducing the wellbeing of the
different actors along the food value chains and representing unnecessary GHG emissions and
wasted water and land. The
production of greenhouse
gases contributes adversely to
climate change. Globally, the
amount of food loss waste in
2009 was responsible for
roughly 3,300–5,600 million
metric
tons of GHG emissions,
173 billion cubic meters/y of
water
consumption;
198
million hectares/y of cropland
used to grow this wasted food; 28 million tons/y of fertilizer are used to grow this wasted food (WRI
2013).
PRIMA will produce a direct environmental impact that will ultimately generate an economic level
(both at industry level, by decreasing waste management costs, and at societal level by decreasing
the waste impact and GHG emissions)
Decrease of waste management costs
Providing measures to prevent waste generation during the relevant industrial stages (handling,
storage, logistics, processing, distribution), PRIMA will guarantee less food waste is generated and
therefore ensuring that an highest percentage of edible foods will be delivered in a form the
consumer is willing to buy
Providing technical, technological and behavioural solutions aimed at reducing, reusing and
recycling food waste along the food chain, PRIMA will ensure a significant decrease in the amount
of unavoidable waste that is expected to be disposed in landfill, with an abatement of the associated
disposal costs.
Providing innovative technologies for reusing food waste or recovering high value molecules from
waste, PRIMA will ensure an economical valuation of an array of waste and by-products that have
been currently accounted as economical losses.
Reduction of the environmental impact and emission of GHG. When considering the entire lifecycle
of a food product, the economic/environmental impacts increase from production along the supply
chain. The household stage has the greatest impact in this respect, with 45% of estimated GHG
emissions linked to food waste; the processing sector accounts for around 35% of annual emissions
(Preparatory study on food waste across EU 27, BIO IS, 2010). Therefore, the further along the
supply chain a product is wasted, the higher is its cost. As a consequence, the reduction on food
waste generated the projects developed within PRIMA will have a positive impact at each phase of
the supply chain, but mainly at household level. At industrial level, the decrement of
GHG emission
will also be a significant outcome in the industry-targeted reuse and recycle activities. As an
example, considering a possible stream of production of a bio-based molecule for food packaging
application (e.g., bio-succinic acid produced after fermentation of food waste), it will allow a
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REDUCE
REUSE
RECYCLE
EU Agro-food and
chemicals industry
EU decision makers and
municipalities
Training
workshop
Industrial
exploitation
Consumers
engagement
Costs for waste
management
New and widely adopted
environment-friendly
industrial solutions
Decreased
GHG emissions