Collecting and redistributing surplus meals from institutional catering to associations: characterizing and assessing the new link

Résumé 0

In France as in many countries, circular economy principles are politically driven to foster societies’ sustainable material use. Waste reduction receives particular attention in this field with food waste as a prominent field of policy action. As an example, the French EGalim Act voted in 2018 requires large establishments in institutional catering to commit to a partnership for food donation from surplus meals to charity. This policy implies new steps and activities (packaging, collection, transport, storage, and distribution of donations) to be integrated into the supply chain. Taken together, they build a “new link” in the food supply chain. Because of its recent nature and relative complexity, very few studies have been carried out so far to understand how the collection and redistribution of unsold meals to associations work.The NEWLINK project aims to characterize the “new link” of the redistribution of unsold meals from collective catering to associations. It analyzes the role that different types of intermediary operators – companies and associations - play in dealing with unsold meals to be donated and what their contribution to more circular, less wasteful, and sustainable food systems is.The study is based on primary data collected along the new link – from large meal preparation units of public or private catering companies to intermediary operators to food aid associations — in the Paris metropolitan area (France). Data, obtained in in-depth interviews, is qualitative and quantitative and covers various aspects related to business models, types of partnerships, quantities of collected and redistributed meals, and their composition. We suggest a typology of intermediary operators to understand their diversity.A twofold approach will analyze the results: i) according to a multi-dimensional set of indicators related to aspects of organization, business models, and the social, ii) a systemic analysis of their contribution to improving urban sustainability. Possible improvements were derived from a stakeholder workshop initiated at the end of the research project and are being synthesized as policy recommendations.