Wageningen Sets Sights on Circular Economy for Food
26 Jan 2017 --- The Circular Economy Task Force on Food is being launched today (January 26) during the National Food Summit. The Task Force, an initiative of Wageningen University and Research, in collaboration with the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Food Preservation Alliance, brings together initiatives against food waste.
Its aim is to prevent and reduce food waste and become a global leader in how to add value to agri-residues.
The Task Force has 25 members from the whole food chain, from small to medium sized businesses (SMEs) to multinational food companies and public and civil society organizations.
The organizations behind the Task Force say that the initiatives in the Netherlands are now too fragmented and that effort should be made to bring about real change.
The Task Force will publish a national strategy and roadmap to jointly reach a circular economy for food: an economy where waste does not exist, agrifood residues are reused optimally and raw materials retain their value.
Residues of agrifood products are packed with valuable components and it often comes as a surprise to companies to learn what applications might be possible to turn waste into something much more useful - valorizing waste streams.
Wageningen helps partners to go through all steps needed to get from the idea stage to a marketable product; of monitoring & analysis to product and process development, consumer research and the chain device.
Roadmap objectives
The Taskforce roadmap will set out goals for the short and long-term and serve as a think tank and source of inspiration and challenge to companies to innovate faster.
Anyone taking part can use insights gained in European research REFRESH coordinated by Wageningen University and Research.
“With companies at the helm, we build an ecosystem in which we focus work on solutions and truly realize economic, environmental and social impact,” says Toine Timmermans, program manager at Wageningen University and Research and co-founder of the Taskforce.
Over the next two years there will be dozens of initiatives and projects launched which will be supported by the Taskforce.
Wageningen invite companies to join the initiative as a signatory member or supporter. Signatory members take concrete action against food wastage and report transparently on their progress. Supporters endorse the ambitions of the Task Force and assigned in various ways support in tackling food waste. The Task Force aims to have at least 100 active members by 2018.
