Presentation of the SoliFoodWaste project

Objectives

SoliFoodWaste aims to develop a national food waste reduction chain by upgrading bread, fruits and vegetables, while creating jobs for people with major disabilities. SoliFoodWaste has five specific objectives :

• To protect the environment and fight against food waste by reusing unsold bread, fruits and vegetables
• To create and maintain jobs for people with disabilities
• To create an economically viable and socially responsible unsold goods processing structure
• To strengthen the economic viability of structures for integration through work (Establishments and Services for Work Assistance - ESAT - in France) with a new collaborative channel
• To raise awareness of anti-waste and disability among the general public and professionals

At first, the pilot for the region of Nantes (France) plans to centralise in a single structure the collection, processing and resale of 600 tonnes of bread and 500 tonnes of unsold fruit and vegetables per year by 2022. For the pilot site, 24 jobs will be created including 8 for people with disabilities and 40 in the provision of services from adapted companies and WISEs.

Beyond the objectives of the Nantes site, the first three years of the project aim to demonstrate the technical feasibility, the economic viability and the environmental and social impact of the project.

This swarming at more than 65 national and European sites is planned for 2023 and aims to maximize the impact of the project. The first 2 sites in France and Belgium - with TRAVIE, a partner in the project - will initiate this major ambition in 2023.

SoliFoodWaste will be the first large-scale project combining the circular economy with the professional integration of people with disabilities.

Impacts

Environmental impact

On a pilot scale by 2022, we estimate that the project will result in annual savings of :

• 1100T of bread, fruits and vegetables, 550T of CO2, 531 million litres of water and 88 hectares of crops
• After spin-off (65 structures) by 2030, we estimate that the project will allow annual savings of :
  
  • 80 000T of bread, fruits and vegetables, 42,290T of CO2, 40,960 million litres of water and 6,932 hectares of crops

The aim of the awareness-raising campaigns encouraging the fight against waste is to reduce by 10% the initial production of food waste in entities accompanied by Solifoodwaste.

The reduction of SoliFoodWaste's environmental footprint will be a constant objective, notably by optimising internal processes :

• Collection (short circuits, ecological transport, use of existing rounds such as those of the Post Office, etc)
• Green procurement
• Optimized building and processes

An annual evaluation will help to keep the impact of the project as low as possible as part of a strategy of continuous impact reduction.

Employment impact

For the pilot site, <strong>24 jobs will be created including 8 for people with disabilities and 40 in the provision of services from adapted companies and WISEs

Social impact

 Planning