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Increased resource efficiency through reduced food waste

IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute assists you with mapping your food waste and food loss as well as with creating action plans for reducing them. We also offer you the possibility of new collaboration opening doors to new business opportunities.

Today, approximately 40 procent of all food produced is wasted, accounting for nearly 10 procent of the global greenhouse gas emissions. This means that the climate emissions from food waste are twice as high as emissions from flying.

However, reducing food waste not only has an impact on climate emissions but also pays off financially. Return on invest can be as much as 1:8 up to 1:12 for actions that reduce food waste or create new business opportunities from food waste.

IVL's experts have a deep understanding of the challenges with reducing food waste and food losses across the value chain, from primary production to the food industry, retail, and the service sector.

IVL helps your municipality, organization, or business with:

  • Bringing together stakeholders and enabling dialogue to reduce food waste/food losses in the whole value chain, for example, through dialogues with your suppliers.
  • Mapping food waste and resources as well as developing action plans to reduce food waste/food loss for individual companies and sub-sectors, such as analyzing how packaging affects food waste.
  • Developing strategies and new business models that support circular flows, such as creating new products from residual flows.
  • Interpretation and impact assessment of legislation and regulations, such as the packaging and packaging waste directive currently under revision in the EU.
  • Pilot studies and proposals for new policy instruments, such as policy innovations where parties with different expertise collaborate to develop ideas for new policies or rules.
  • Personalized training and other skill-enhancing activities for your company, ranging from inspirational lectures to workshops on cause-and-effect relationships or to the development of information material about food waste.
  • Our accredited lab can also help you to ensure non-toxic and safe cycles through testing for example residual flows.

More information:

Swedish voluntary agreement for reduction of food waste External link.

Contributes to the UN Global Goals

  • 11. Sustainable cities and communities
  • 12. Responsible consumtion and production
  • 13. Climate action