Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Milan, February 5 2023 - Over 290 tons of food recovered in the last year, five hubs against food waste active in the city with the aim of activating them in every neighborhood and over 40 supermarket outlets involved. And again: 35 third sector bodies that benefited from the collection of surplus food and 103 schools included in the 'Sacchetto Salvamerenda' project to educate the little ones not to waste food.

These are the numbers that tell how much the Municipality of Milan, as part of the Food Policy actions, is committed all year round to combating food waste and raising awareness on the issue of all the subjects involved in the food supply chain, from producers to distributors up to to consumers and schools.

The National Food Waste Day, which has been celebrated for ten years on February 5th and was created to raise citizens' awareness of the achievement of the sustainability objectives set by the United Nations Agenda, becomes an opportunity to take stock of what has been done and how much is doing every day in the city in the context of food policies thanks to the collaboration of the many partners involved.

During 2022, in the four Hubs against food waste active in Milan (Isola, Gallaratese, Lambrate and Centro, the latter inaugurated last September), over 177 tonnes were collected by 12 supermarket brands, reaching over 3500 families (data : Food Sustainability Observatory of the Polytechnic of Milan). Added to these are another 120 tons of food surplus recovered by Recup and Banco Alimentare della Lombardia, collected in the fifth of the Foody Zero waste Hub present within the Sogemi Agri-food market in Milan source (data: University of Milan), thus reaching over 290 tons of food recovered during 2022. 

The neighborhood hub initiative launched in 2019 by the Municipality of Milan together with Fondazione Cariplo, Assolombarda, Politecnico di Milano and Programma QuBi, is mainly based on the recovery of food surpluses from Milanese supermarket sales points, with the construction of a territorial network which involved third sector associations and non-profit organizations for the redistribution of these goods, which in turn allocate the food to people and families in difficulty.

The Foody Zero Waste initiative, however, within Sogemi, the agri-food market of Milan, involved around 60 wholesalers, through the Valore project, promoted by the Cariplo Foundation in collaboration with Sogemi and the Municipality of Milan, together with Eco dalle Città and Caritas Ambrosiana active at the market.

Even at school, in terms of recovering surpluses, various initiatives are underway and thanks to the commitment of Milano Ristorazione, during the 2021/2022 school year, 29.850 SaveSnack Bags were delivered to boys and girls in 112 schools to take home bread and fruit not consumed, while from the beginning of the current school year to today, 28.490 bags have already been delivered to 103 schools.

The partners of the Neighborhood Hubs

Supporting bodies: Progamma QuBi, Fondazione Milan, Banca di Credito Cooperativo di Milano and Fondazione Snam.

Managing bodies: Banco Alimentare della Lombardia, Terre des Homme Italia, Ibva Solidando.

Foody Zero Waste Hub: : Sogemi, Fondazione Cariplo, University of Milan, Lombardy Food Bank, Recup Rossa Opera, Eco dalle Città, Caritas Ambrosiana

Technical sponsors: Avis Milano, Number1 Logistics Group, SoDe social delivery, Italian Red Cross – Milan Committee

The brands involved: Lidl, Bennet, Esselunga, Carrefour, Coop Lombardia, Il Gigante, Natura Sì, Getir, Pam, Erbert, Conad, Glovo, with 41 points of sale in total.