Food policy. The research "Circular food economy in Milan" has been published
Milan, 20 December 2020 – Milan is the largest European city that has adopted the door-to-door waste collection system and has one of the highest quantities of differentiated waste per capita in Europe: the organic fraction in fact reached 2019 tonnes in 154.000, from which it was possible to produce 22.000 tons of agricultural compost and 8 million cubic meters of biomethane.
Not only. In Milan, thanks to the recovery of surplus fresh food, an impact of around 2019 tonnes of redistributed food is estimated for 1.700, equivalent to over 900 tonnes of CO2 avoid.
These are some of the data highlighted by the research "Circular economy of food in Milan", conceived by Novamont and developed by the Està research center with the patronage of the Municipality of Milan and the Cariplo Foundation, as a contribution to the implementation of the city's Food policy.
“Milan continues to prove itself at the forefront for the promotion of the circular economy of the food system - comments the Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Food policy Anna Scavuzzo -, maintaining the objective of minimizing the environmental impact, as part of the actions we take in place through our food policy, and always promoting new initiatives, such as the strengthening of neighborhood hubs for the recovery of surpluses".
The research analyzes three areas that have a major impact on the food system: urban waste related to food, the redistribution of surplus fresh food with a view to solidarity and sludge from wastewater purification.
“Milan is demonstrating how it is possible to implement policies capable of transforming a waste society, which destroys resources instead of regenerating them, into one that learns to do more and better with less - declares Andrea Di Stefano, Head of Special Projects and Business Communication of Novamont -. We need to continue on this path, going beyond the excellent results of separate waste collection, to redesign the production, consumption and disposal systems and thus combine economy and environment. An action such as that of the Food policy, undertaken by the municipal administration in close collaboration with the Cariplo Foundation, is fundamental to understanding how much and how territorial policy strategies can impact the pursuit of the objectives of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals".
As regards urban waste, good separate collection allows us to improve waste recycling processes and produce new value-added products. In 2020 the rate of separate waste collection managed by AMSA, a company of the A2a Group, in Milan reached 63% and among the most significant recent experiences that have allowed this result to be achieved, the improvement in waste collection in the weekly open markets is mentioned. (2.500 tons, for a saving of 420 tons of CO2) and linguistic-cultural mediation projects to improve collections in ethnic catering establishments.
As regards the recovery of surpluses, the research has revealed that this is the front on which most of the Food policy actions are concentrated: the diffusion of neighborhood hubs against food waste (in 2019 the one in via Borsieri redistributed 77 tons of food for 3.950 people, of which 1.480 minors, with a saving of 170-240 tons of CO emissions2); donations from school canteens served by Milano Ristorazione (59 tons of bread and 79 tons of fruit recovered in 2018, for a total of 83 tons of CO emissions2 avoided) and the SoGeMi fruit and vegetable market (1.500 tonnes recovered in 2019 for 590 tonnes of CO emissions2 avoid); the activities promoted by the Recup association in uncovered markets (54 tonnes recovered in 2019, equivalent to 21 tonnes of CO emissions2 avoid).
Finally, the research gives ample space to the analysis of sludge from wastewater purification, both in Milan and in the metropolitan city. In particular, the production processes, quantities and fate of the sludge generated both by MM in the two purifiers in Milan (59.000 tonnes of sludge in 2019, destined for agriculture or as an energy vector, without resorting to landfill disposal) and by the CAP Group are examined. in the 40 purifiers of the metropolitan city (59.000 tonnes of sludge produced in 2018, destined for agriculture and as an energy vector to which 16.311 tonnes of fertilizers are added, with marginal recourse to landfill disposal). Space is also given to innovations in terms of reuse and recovery of sludge: experimentation with the production of fertilizers in line in the Nosedo purifier, experimentation with different methods of sludge combustion also for the recovery of phosphorus from the ash, production of biomethane in the purifier of Bresso-Niguarda.
“Different types of poverty are growing at the moment - said Claudia Sorlini, Vice President of the Cariplo Foundation -, which affect people in fundamental aspects of their lives: food, digital, energy, cultural. A first step to combat poverty is to reduce waste and put what is there online, so that it can be useful to the community, also generating a positive impact on the environment. Energy recovery from waste and the return of nutrients to the earth in the form of compost are also actions that respond to the logic of circularity. Fondazione Cariplo is supporting initiatives to combat food and digital poverty and to protect the environment".
Various public and private actors in the city's food system contributed to this work. The study was based on interviews with 40 experts among the key subjects in the Milan area, who also operate on a supra-local scale and who deal in various capacities with the circular economy.
Updated: 20/12/2020