Support for a food system where nothing is thrown away and everything is recycled

About a third of the emissions of greenhouse gases from Swedish households are due to what we eat or to residues from food production. Residues that could constitute a valuable resource but are instead sent to incineration, digestion or, at best, animal feed.

Vinnova is now making an effort with a focus on Swedish industry, which through innovative solutions creates an efficient utilization of raw materials. Because the interesting thing is that what for someone is residual flows and a cost to get rid of, can be an important resource for someone else. It's about seeing the opportunities outside your own organization or business. Johan Stenberg, tender manager at Vinnova, puts it this way:

- We see here the opportunity for win-win. If we can use resources in a smarter way, we can reduce climate and environmental impact and preserve natural resources, while reducing costs and increasing profitability.

The investment is made in the form of an open call for proposals with the name Increased resource efficiency, industry funding for a circular economy. It is thematically open to all production areas (except energy), for example steel, forestry and car manufacturing.

- The food area is one of those that are relevant. Food production is linked to a large amount of resources, such as land, water and chemicals. By focusing on processing and reuse of raw materials, we can reduce the pressure on production and thus reduce the environmental impact, says Alexander Alvsilver, responsible for the innovation area Sustainable food systems at Vinnova

Project that succeeded

Since 2018, Vinnova has financed 19 food-related project within this investment in increased resource efficiency and circular economy. Project that has a total budget of 66 million (of which 36 million from Vinnova). Here are three examples of those who managed to get funding:

1. In the Food Waste project, Ecoloop AB together with several partners developed a demonstration facility to handle 1.5 tons of food waste per day. Plant waste from aquaponics at Johanna's city farms was taken care of by Ragn-Sells and could serve as feed for mealworms at Tebrito, which could be used as fish feed. It turned out to give good growth to the fish. The project, for example, dealt with problems with persistent odors and deepened the contacts with the authorities, contributing to rule and technology development. The project had a budget of SEK 10 million (5 million from Vinnova and 5 million co-financing). Food waste to insects that become fish feed (aka Food waste 2) – Circular farming (circular farming.se)
2. Projektet ReSvinn 2018-2019 (Travel - Less waste. More food) developed efficient redistribution systems for surplus food in Sweden from shops and wholesalers to restaurants, schools and charities. 17 tests were carried out where restaurants in Gothenburg, Malmö, Stockholm, Skövde, Norrtälje, Umeå and Örebro saved over 95 tons of food from being thrown away. At the end of the project, 50 organizations had participated and the lessons learned are documented and guides for others to use have been produced.
3. The ongoing project Returbar aims to find a practical system solution for reusable bags in home deliveries. During the last decade, demand has increased explosively for e-commerce services in the grocery trade. Axfoundation has therefore brought together, among others, Axfood, Coop, ICA, Lidl and Mathem to come up with a joint proposal for a "loan bag" with collateral to help customers move from a linear to a circular flow The project is carried out in four work packages: 1. Mapping, 2.Needs analysis including system design idea, 3.Synthesis recommendation for upcoming next steps, 4.Communication and management. The project has a budget of SEK 1.3 million (of which 650,000 from Vinnova and 650,000 in co-financing) Returnable – a circular system for grocery bags in e-commerce (axfoundation.se).

For those who are interested, here is the call for proposals in brief: You can also find it in its entirety on this page

The call for proposals Increased resource efficiency, industry funding for a circular economy has a budget of SEK 50 million. Vinnova's funding amounts to a maximum of SEK 6 million per project and may constitute a maximum of 65 percent of the project's total eligible costs. The projects may last a maximum of 36 months.

At least four project parties must participate in project. At least two of the project parties must be need owners (potential customers or users of the innovative solution) and at least one party must be a solution owner.