Circular economy of food in Milan

Authors: Emanuele Camisana, Giacomo Cellottini, Francesca Federici, Massimiliano Lepratti

Published: 2020

Publishing House: ESTà – Economics and Sustainability

ISBN: 9788894511222

Language: Italian

In collaboration with the City of Milan and Fondazione Cariplo, the Economics and Sustainability Research Center (ESTà) conducted a study “Circular Economy of Food in Milan,” which aimed to create a network of local actors to develop a circular and sustainable system. This provided the necessary tools to promotesocial, technological and organizational innovation and achieve the goals of Food Policy and circular economy.

Conducted by interviewing 40 experts (key local and supra-local stakeholders, as well as experts in various capacities on the circular economy), the research focuses on three key topics: food system-related waste, food surpluses, and sewage sludge.

Regarding the first topic, municipal waste streams, FORSU and packaging were analyzed. Of the latter, the study focused on the collection and treatment processes for paper, cardboard and plastics because of the associated environmental problems and volumetric size. Solutions were then identified to replace traditional products with analogues made of compostable materials.

The section on food surpluses addresses the phenomenon of food waste, starting with an analysis of global causes and impacts, moving through an examination of the critical issues involved in measuring and defining the phenomenon, and finally presenting innovative solutions to reduce waste and ensure equitable distribution of food.

Finally, the section on sewage sludge discusses the processes of production, treatment, agricultural use, as well as the difficulties of disposal and the continuous increase in their volumes. Some strategies for reusing them to improve the quality of agricultural soils and produce biofuels and possible new goods are then defined.