Circular economy in the Agri-food system: The solution for food waste?
An alternative for sustainable Agri-Food Systems
The global challenge of food waste
Globally, the development of agriculture has fostered negative environmental impacts: overexploitation of natural resources, soil and water pollution, habitat fragmentation due to land-use change, biodiversity loss, and greenhouse gas emissions, among others (Aznar-Sánchez et al., 2020). Particularly, the agri-food system has been extremely affected by challenges such as resource scarcity, food loss, and waste generation along the entire global food supply chain (image 1), which represents approximately 1.3 billion tons each year (FAO, 2014; UNEP, 2021). Consequently, the problems related to food loss and waste are gaining international recognition from policymakers, academia, public and private institutions, raising issues concerning ecological, economic, and social aspects related to global food security and sustainable development (WRAP, 2015).
Nevertheless, the agri-food system offers several opportunities to minimize the loss of materials, flows, and energy by reusing resources, valorizing by-products, cascading use of biomass, reducing, reducing food loss and food waste (Aznar-Sánchez et al., 2020). In this sense, the agri-food system is crucial in the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources and plays a potential role in climate change mitigation, as it is inherently interconnected to the environment, socio-economic and political spheres (Aznar-Sánchez et al., 2020; Muscio & Sisto, 2020). Therefore, the agri-food system is a keystone as part of an approach to foster the sustainability of agriculture and food security and to help achieve various sustainable development objectives at the same time (Muscio & Sisto, 2020).
What is the Circular Economy?
Consequently, the concept of Circular Economy (CE) has emerged as a political-cultural proposal alternative to our current production and consumption model, known as the linear economy, which is based on the “take-make-dispose” paradigm (Gregson et al., 2015).
The Circular Economy is an economic model based on interconnections and cycles of materials, flows, and energy, that considers the readaptation of society and natural ecosystems to our current challenges, developing a new perspective of closed-loop systems (Blomsma & Brennan, 2017).
As a result, with the transition to a CE economic model, there exists the possibility of gaining economic value from many by-products in the agri-food industry, such as food waste. Thus, the CE offers the opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the agri-food value chain (Nattassha et al., 2020), tackling several problems in the agri-food industry, in particular in the process of reuse, manufacturing, and recycling process (Vlajic et al., 2018).
Nonetheless, the theoretical framework of the CE emphasizes industrial ecology, technological innovation and it focuses particularly on recycling rather than reuse. Moreover, the CE approach is used as a guideline to transit to sustainable development (Ghisellini et al., 2016). The European Commission has recognized that the transition towards a CE requires innovations on a technical, social, and organizational level, linking production and consumption throughout the value chain (European Comission, 2014). Indeed, the European Commission has stated that to achieve these innovations, valuable elements including financial instruments, and multi-stakeholder involvement must be leveraged (Witjes & Lozano, 2016). Furthermore, business models and innovations driven by entrepreneurs are fundamental for the transition towards a CE. For this reason, the European Commission claims attention should be given to entrepreneurs to assist them to enter new markets, and it remarks that entrepreneurial actors could function as a crucial part of the CE transition (Eurpean Comission, 2014). However, there is little information regarding developments of market initiatives at a micro-level, e.g. business level, that can help in the economic transition from a linear to a circular model and how entrepreneurial actors at the micro-level take action with such initiatives (Larsson & Lindahl, 2017).
How can we be part of the solution for the Circular Economy transition?
Hence, as GlocAllia, we are an organization whose mission is to build a gloCal impact-driven society, looking forward to co-creating with local people through the empowerment of rural and local people. As food systems innovators, we aim to foster and promote sustainable development, focusing on resilience, equality, inclusivity, and socio-environmental justice to enhance a positive systemic change to ensure people and the planet thrive everywhere.
For instance, we work and collaborate with several social enterprises, development agencies, ecosystems builders in mature ecosystems or developing countries, and through co-creation with local communities, we aim to unleash (local) solutions for local challenges and facilitate global connections to boost positive outcomes fueled with the right support. We believe in our citizens and organizations, sharing knowledge and networks globally can tackle this local challenge and replicate it where it is relevant. As we are all connected, we need a collective approach to make sure our people and planet thrive respecting our local cultures and environments.
References
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Blomsma, F. & Brennan, G. (2017). The emergence of circular economy: a new framing around Prolonging resource productivity. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 21(3), 603-614.
Ellen McArthur Foundation (2022). Food and the Circular Economy. Retrieved in February 2022 from: https://archive.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/explore/food-cities-the-circular-economy
European Commission (2014). Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, The Council, The European Economic and Social Committee of the Regions. Towards a circular economy: A zero waste program for Europe. Brussels: Belgium. European Commission. (Electronic Report). Retrieved on February 2022 from: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:aa88c66d-4553-11e4-a0cb-01aa75ed71a1.0022.03/DOC_1&format=PDF
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UNEP (2021). Food Waste Index Report 2021. United Nations Environment Programme. ISBN No: 978-92-807-3868-1.
Vlajic JV, Mijailovic R, Bogdanova M. Creating loops with value recovery: empirical study of fresh food supply chains. Prod Plan Control. 2018;29(6):522–38.
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WRAP (2015). Strategies to achieve economic and environmental gains by reducing food waste. Retrieved in February 2022 from: at: http://newclimateeconomy.report/2014/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/02/WRAP-NCE_Economic-environmental-gains-food-waste.pdf