We lecturers always tell our students this: your assessment will also take into account your use of the correct technical terminology. However, I must admit: sometimes I find myself struggling to use the right word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This happens to me often, for example, in the field of agri-food waste<\/strong>, even though it has been one of my main areas of research for over twenty years. During this time, I have witnessed the evolution of research in this sector, alongside that of definitions and the regulatory framework, which is essential for promoting and driving ever greater reduction and recovery of this waste in the interests of circularity. As for definitions, I must admit that the Italian language presents some difficulties compared to the English terms used internationally to identify residues based on when they are generated in the supply chain or their intended use. We thus move from the distinction now clearly defined by the FAO between food loss<\/strong> and food waste<\/strong>, whereby the former refers to the reduction in the quantity or quality of food resulting from decisions and actions by food suppliers in the chain, excluding retailers, catering service providers and consumers. Loss is defined as everything that is discarded, incinerated or disposed of, as well as anything that does not enter the supply chain for other productive uses, such as animal feed and seeds. The actions and decisions of those previously excluded are, however, responsible for generating food waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whilst the distinction is clear, complications arise regarding the language (Italian) and regulations. Food waste is correctly classified as waste and is generally referred to as \u2018food waste\u2019. When it comes to food loss, however, there are some grey areas. First of all, whatever ends up being incinerated or disposed of effectively becomes waste, just like food waste. Within production processes, there are opportunities to transform waste into a by-product. By-products, in fact, result from a production process without being the intended final product of that process and, rather than being sent for disposal, are directed, without a doubt, towards other direct uses. In short, waste becomes a by-product if it is recovered, although EU legislation has set out requirements that must be met to avoid falling within the scope of illegal waste trafficking (for the disposal of which a fee would otherwise have to be paid). In addition to its definition and intended use, it is stipulated that the by-product must be directly reusable without requiring treatments that do not form part of normal industrial practice; it must have a market value, and its end use must be complete and without any negative impacts on either human health or the environment. It goes without saying that there are certain difficulties in interpreting these provisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The legislation on waste and by-products applies across all production sectors, and the by-product may also be used in a sector other than its original one<\/strong>. This is an important point because the recovery of a by-product for food purposes constitutes an act of upcycling, a relatively recent term that identifies a particular type of recovery and which does not yet have a clear legal definition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The use of a by-product for food purposes constitutes a form of upcycling, a relatively recent term that refers to a specific type of value-adding process and which does not yet have a clear legal definition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3836,"featured_media":237819,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20993],"tags":[20769,21962,21963],"tipologia":[],"coauthors":[21917],"class_list":["post-237812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials-opinions","tag-by-products","tag-food-loss","tag-food-waste-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n