Dutch consumers daily discard nearly 450.000 loaves of bread; valuable bread that doesn't belong in the streets or in our bins. Nearly 80 percent of the trash in our public space is bread. Moreover, bread on the streets means sick birds, social discontent, and an overpopulation of rats in the streets! Broodnodig*, our partners and the citizens of Rotterdam are taking action. Together we reduce, reuse and recycle breadwaste!  

How do we do this?  Broodnodig provides information at various events to start the dialogue and to find solutions together for the breadwaste problems in our streets and bins. We reduce by sharing recipes that include old bread as an ingredient and additionally, we've set out a large campaign concerning the collection of bread in Rotterdam. Throughout the city, special bread bins are placed where people can leave their old bread. These bins are cared for voluntarily and placed at semi-public places like schools, supermarkets and meeting places. The first bread bins have been placed last summer. The collected bread will be turned into compost, and this process is facilitated by the Rotterdam City Management. 
This solution is temporary, eventually Broodnodig wants to offer Rotterdam neighbourhoods the opportunity of using the collected non-edible breadwaste as raw material for locally generated energy. One loaf of bread produces enough biogas for a stove to burn for a full hour. We are developing a digester that will be placed in the public and semi-public space, the first prototype will be placed the 29th of april at a petting zoo in Rotterdam. By doing this we are turning the bread waste problem into a golden opportunity by using the 'breaddigester ' as an educationtool for our campaign. Making the problem visible, measurable and giving it a purpose instead of having it as a burden can change our behavior in a good way.

Our mission is to make the solution to the bread waste problem visible, by doing so we can reduce the whole breadwaste issue in the citystreets and at our homes! We are a wonderful example for all cities in the industrialized countries facing the bread waste problem. Bread is on a global scale always in the top 3 as one of the most discarded ingredient of the food chain.

*BroodNodig literally translates into bread necessary. It also is a Dutch expression meaning: much-needed.