Tartu, Estonia

Context

In Estonia, the amount of food waste has increased throughout the last five years in the entire food supply chain, from agriculture to homes. Approximately 84,000 tons of food is thrown away in Estonia every year, and it is estimated that this is about 164 million euros a year.  Estonia is committed to meeting the Sustainable Development Goal Target 12.3 to halve per capita food waste at the retail and consumer level by 2030 and reduce food losses along the food production and supply chains, as part of its national food waste prevention plan.

According to the goals set in Food Strategy for Tartu County 2022-2030, the long-term vision is that Tartu County is a well-known food region in Estonia and Europe. Public and private sector caterers mainly use local produce while people in Tartu region are conscious consumers of healthy local food and food waste and carbon footprint in the food sector have reduced.

The pilot will focus on finding solutions to promote local food and food education, to improve our consumption patterns and raising understanding and awareness about food waste.   

Why

• Estonia is committed to meeting the Sustainable Development Goal Target 12.3 to halve per capita food waste at the retail and consumer level by 2030 and reduce food losses along the food production and supply chains as a part of its national food waste prevention plan and national food rescue action plan that include different measures involving all key players across the food supply chain.
• Tartu is the most active Estonian city, leading the way in achieving carbon neutrality in Estonia by 2050. The City of Tartu has adopted “Climate and Energy Plan for 2023-2030”, the Association of Municipalities of Tartu County has adopted “Food Strategy for Tartu County 2022-2030”. These long-term documents stipulate the need for lowering CO2 emissions, preventing and decreasing food waste and promoting sustainable consumption as well as sustainably produced local, healthy food.
• Tartu Biotechnology Park would like to be able to initiate and implement concrete actions related to achieving these targets on regional level.  

What

• The aim of the pilot is motivating and engaging relevant stakeholders to reach common ground for finding solutions to local challenges including promotion of local food producers and defining the ways to tackle with food waste issues in Tartu region.
• The pilot focuses on finding solutions to improve customers consumption patterns and raising awareness about food waste issues and more sustainable and economical food production methods.