Reducing food waste is an essential requirement in achieving global food security. There is a clear need for greater efficiency, reducing waste and improving the resilience of local and global food systems, through the adoption of a holistic approach that integrates all aspects of food growing, harvesting and processing, and the complexities associated with balanced and safe food consumption.

FOODRUS will develop 23 circular solutions to limit food losses and waste along the agri-food value chain through different forms of collaborative innovation, including: technological (blockchain solutions), social (educational materials and citizen science activities to promote sustainable consumption habits), organisational (last mile networks to foster local consumption and donation), and fiscal (new ‘Pay As You Throw’ schemes). The FOODRUS solutions will be tested at three demonstrations across Europe: a cross-regional Spanish pilot focused on vegetables and prepared salads; a Danish pilot centred on meat and fish; and a Slovakian pilot analysing the bread value chain. The project has received co-funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101000617