While nearly a third of the world's food production goes to waste, in Italy—where about 67 kilograms of edible food per capita are lost each year—initiatives to curb this phenomenon are multiplying. With this goal in mind, companies, startups, schools, institutions, and associations took part in the 14th edition of the Non Sprecare Award, dedicated specifically to combating food waste. The event concluded today with the presentation of awards for the best projects on the Luiss Guido Carli University campus. Many ideas were awarded for reducing waste, extending shelf life, and encouraging sustainable lifestyles and consumption.

The initiative, conceived by Antonio Galdo – director of www.nonsprecare.it –  and supported by Luiss, aims to promote good anti-waste practices and has gathered over a hundred innovative ideas. “Food waste must be tackled at its root, throughout the entire food supply chain. Technology can be a great help in production and distribution, but when it comes to household consumption, what’s needed most is awareness, responsibility, and a few tangible actions—like the ones we’ve chosen to recognize this year,”Galdo commented.

For this edition, broadcast on Luiss Social TV and on the Non Sprecare Facebook page, there were six categories: Individual, Institutions, Schools and Universities, Startups, Associations, and Companies.  

The Individual category award went to the story of Antonio and Tarek: the former is a retiree from the Cremona area, while the latter is a young man from Bangladesh. Their lives cross paths by chance in Milan and remain intertwined, eventually leading them to become father and son. Their meeting also inspired a book, “Tarek e gli altri.”

The Institutions Award went to the Municipality of Candela, a small town in the province of Foggia. They successfully piloted a 3R (Recycle, Reuse, Reduce) project that encourages residents to adopt consumption habits and lifestyles that reduce waste through a financial incentive for purchasing eco-sustainable products. A simple, original, and effective idea that benefits both the public administration and individuals.

Taking first place in the Schools and Universities category were the students from the Sensale High School in Nocera Inferiore, in the province of Salerno. They successfully implemented a project to recover ash that would otherwise be wasted from local pizzerias and transform it into an eco-friendly detergent.

The Startup Award went to Vaia, a project that emerged after the 2018 storm in the Dolomites. It was the brainchild of three young men who repurpose wood from fallen trees to create design objects. They’ve already sold 80,000 pieces, and have planted the same number of trees to help reforest the area.

In the Associations category, the award went to the Trastevere Senior Center in Rome, a place where seniors gather to build community and overcome loneliness. Together, they learn languages, dance, knit, and play chess. Among the initiatives launched is the creation of a composter, where food waste becomes fertilizer for the organic garden that grows spices for use in cooking.

Finally, AgreeNET won the Companies category with its Ally packaging, which turns peels into edible films. This new method for preserving fruits and vegetables reduces waste and increases recycling throughout the entire production chain, and it’s the result of a collaboration between the company and the Polytechnic University of Turin.

The winners in each category received prizes of Alce Nero Group products equal to their weight.

To raise awareness among the entire university community about food poverty and the fight against waste, Luiss also hosted a collection of long-life food items on the Viale Romania campus, with the aim of donating them to families facing significant hardship. This initiative, organized in partnership with the Banco Alimentare del Lazio, builds on the commitment the university made last May when it donated over 200 kilograms of collected food to those most in need.