Crossing at RETASTE: Universities and companies focus on new bioplastics
Last Sept. 27-29 was held RETASTE, Rethink Food Resources, Losses, and Waste, the annual conference on food waste management from the perspective of the circular economy, now in its third year. The event was held in Athens (Harokopio University), under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy, with the support of various government and private entities, including green economy leader companies.
The three days of technical and academic activities were divided into several areas of interest, including: reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture, analysis of alternative water resources and wastewater reuse, harvesting and post-harvest management to reduce waste, alternative energy production, nutrient recovery, prevention of consumer food waste, and new materials from food resources.
Multi-level work
This last session (“Agrifood Waste Valorization for Bioplastic Composites and High-Value Chemicals”) featured Prof. Valentina Beghetto, president of Crossing, also co-chair in the panel held on September 28 morning, explained in detail the LIFE RESTART project, co-funded by the EU under the LIFE Program.
After a briefly overview of the global and European brewing industry, Beghetto focused on the specifics of the project: the different partners involved, its objectives and environmental impact, the implications in the field of eco-design and circular economy, the correlations with the UN Sustainable Development Goals of Agenda 2030, the social impacts and the replicability of the project.
In the afternoon Beghetto gave an additional lecture on how to prepare for a LIFE Program project, starting with the application and ending with the preparation of documents and analyzing all the important aspects of this specific call.
Meeting between SMEs and Companies
In addition to the technical sessions, a parallel event was held on September 29: SIS – Smart Innovation Symposium, focused on the research and innovation activities of SMEs.
About twenty SMEs presented their research and innovation projects, funded by both national and European resources. Due to its specific features, the Smart Innovation Symposium enables and has enabled strong interaction between universities and interested industries. Here Riccardo Samiolo, director of Crossing, participated with a speech on the most effective spin-off and start-up models.
During the various moments of the conference, LIFE RESTART was very successful and important synergistic contacts were established with representatives from both academia and business in the agribusiness, chemical and circular economy fields.
More info about LIFE RESTART events here.
