Public campaigns and other policy instruments can significantly influence consumer behavior and contribute to a reduction of consumer food waste. However, there are only very few studies that have evaluated to what extent policy interventions actually reduced or prevented food waste. The REFRESH Policy brief summarizes REFRESH findings on consumer behaviour as well as related research results and derives policy recommendations to reduce consumer food waste. The policy brief is based on the REFRESH report "Policies against consumer food waste: Policy options for behaviour change including public campaigns".
This report translates the findings of the REFRESH project on consumer behaviour into policy recommendations. It helps national and regional policy makers in designing and improving appropriate interventions against food waste. It focus on policy instruments that aim to reduce consumer food waste including in-home and out-of-home consumption.
This policy brief outlines the relevance of Unfair Trading Practices to understanding addressing food waste in the supply chain and makes recommendations on mitigating Unfair Trading Practices for a fairer and less wasteful supply chain.
This policy brief outlines how to create a favourable context for the implementation of Voluntary Agreements (VAs) within any Member State to drive food waste reduction. The collaborative nature of VAs is furthermore highlighted, as the food waste savings target of a VA is more likely to be met via active involvement and collaboration of all supply chain actors.
The final REFRESH conference that took place on May 10, 2019 in the Disseny Hub Barcelona brought together 150 participants from all across Europe, China, Australia and the US to present and discuss innovative ideas for food waste reduction and valorisation options across the whole supply chain.
The final REFRESH workshop discussed options and recommendations to integrate policies for food waste in the broader contexts of sustainable food systems and the Circular Economy. Building on the results created within the REFRESH project, the workshop brought together policy makers and experts from research, NGOs and businesses to discuss EU policy options that go beyond efforts to reduce food waste and includes other sustainability aspects such as health and social impacts.
This research investigated the consumer understanding and acceptance of different valorisation methods for food surplus and side-flows. Of particular interest was the extent to which consumers accept and even appreciate products resulting from innovative waste valorisation processes. Results showed that although gleaning-based valorised products were deemed acceptable to be used within the setting of school lunches, the other valorisation methods were not, however, the participants did not view them as unsuitable for adult consumption.
This conference focuses on new findings as well as new solutions for the prevention and management of food waste along the whole supply chain in the Central Europe region but would love to share and discuss current scientific insights on this issue from all over the world.
The conference "Circular Economy - Scaling up market solutions in wholesale & retail" will take place on 17 October 2018 in Brussels, Belgium.
In 2019 the 13th edition of the Food Bank Leadership Institute (FBLI) will be held on 25-27 March in London, UK and will be organized in cooperation with the European Food Banks Federation.
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