Kreislaufwirtschaftliche Lösungen zur Vermeidung von Lebensmittelabfällen in mitteleuropäischen Schulen

Reducing food waste and the associated environmental impact is an important issue in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 12.3). Particularly high levels of food waste have been identified in schools, accounting for up to 70% of the meals prepared, depending on the age of the pupils and the seasonal menu. School meals have to meet different requirements, with the focus on a balanced, healthy and sustainable diet in addition to acceptance by the schoolchildren. However, these goals are often at odds with the goals of food waste prevention. The project aims to make food chains more sustainable at school level and at the same time to achieve a learning effect for households and other stakeholders via the schools. The project results will help to improve the knowledge and implementation capacities of all target groups in the school system with regard to the prevention and recycling of food waste. An actual reduction of food waste will be achieved by -implementing various pilot and demonstration measures to prevent and recycle food waste in the school context -promoting best-practice concepts through the announcement of an international prize for food waste prevention in the school context and by initiating national and transnational working groups, and -providing guidelines and training to ensure transferability and scalability. The project makes a significant contribution to improving the knowledge gaps regarding the causes of wasteful behavior and, above all, the evidence-based design of measures to reduce food waste and the introduction of evaluation procedures.