The Action Plan for Waste Prevention Food in Catalonia (2019-2020) to reduce this waste in all its phases was presented on 15 February. The plan, based on a shared governance model, collects projects from 47 Catalan organizations involved and plans to implement 133 projects.
The different actions will be used to increase knowledge in this area, sensitize and mobilize all the sectors involved, promote specific projects to prevent food wasting and to make better use of food, articulate governance bodies and define the regulatory instruments that facilitate it. The plan can become the basis for future action in Catalonia in this area and is also a valuable contribution to the debate on the future priorities of the European Regional Development Funds that will be addressed in 2019.
The action plan is based on the following principles:
- Recovery of the value of food and know the importance of obtaining them.
- Integrated approach of the food system.
- Waste management hierarchy.
- Economic, environmental and social sustainability.
- Transparency and access to information.
- Technological, social, environmental and governance innovation.
- Shared responsibility.
- Circular economy.
The Plan was developed within the framework of the Ecowaste4food project, a four-year Interreg European project (2017-2020) .The first two years of the project have helped all participating regions to exchange good practices and discuss different waste reduction options. This knowledge has resulted in an action plan made to measure by in each of the regions. Ecowaste4food includes local and regional authorities from seven European countries: Catalonia, through the Waste Agency of Catalonia (ARC); South Region (France); Devon County (United Kingdom), Wielkopolska (Poland), City of Ferrara (Italy), Western Macedonia (Greece) and South Ostrobothnia (Finland). The project wants to face the recurrent loss of food that is not consumed, at the same time, show that food waste can be managed to contribute to an efficient and respectful economy with the environment.
The Catalan Strategic Committee of the Ecowaste4food project is made up of 47 organizations that have contributed to the elaboration of the Plan of Action. They come from all sectors in the food chain and have contributed with their experiences, reflections and opinions about the phenomenon of food waste.
