Research for SAVE FOOD at the Istanbul BAU

A large study by the Bahçeşehir University (BAU) in Istanbul is among the new projects of the SAVE FOOD Initiative. The goal is to produce biodegradable food packaging from food waste or from by-products of food production. While packaging has a protective function and helps to reduce the loss of food, unrecycled plastic waste, however, is one of the biggest problems for the environment of our time. Innovative packaging materials can offer an important contribution to reducing this waste. Consumers’ growing demand for environmentally friendly, recyclable packaging provides an additional impulse to research biodegradable and compostable alternatives to plastics.

The BAU will work on their pilot project together with a partner from the packaging industry as well as one from the food sector. The study is supported by the FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia as well as by interpack. A first prototype will be presented at interpack 2023.

The kick-off for the new project is the regional conference "Enabling the chang". Here, the SAVE FOOD Initiative will present the BAU project. The conference focusses on obstacles, progress, limiting conditions and innovations in the context of reducing food waste. The participants are active players in politics, international organisations, food producers, professional associations and trade unions, investors, non-profit organisations, tech companies and scientific institutes.

The conference will take place in Istanbul from 5 to 6 October 2022. Ahead of the event, the approximately 150 participants will share Best Cases which have proven efficient for all levels, areas and steps of the food value chain when it comes to fighting different aspects of food loss and waste. The results will enter the FAO database as valuable knowledge.

The conference is held by the FAO together with the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, ECO-RCCFS, the coordination centre for implementation of the ECO/FAO Regional Programme for Food Security (RPFS), with support from the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.

Interested parties can register at the following link: