food – Progress in Research

Agriculture: changing animal feed reduces consumption of natural resources

Posted on 26/01/202406/08/2024 by Erik Franco

A study published on the cover of Nature Food, the result of a collaboration between Politecnico di Milano and the University of Milan, highlights how the increased use of by-products in the feed sector (secondary products derived from the processing of primary crops such as cereals and sugar) in a circular perspective can lead to significant savings in the use of land and water resources and thus to more sustainable agri-food systems.

Underlying the work, signed by Camilla Govoni and Maria Cristina Rulli from Politecnico di Milano, Paolo D’Odorico from University of California at Berkeley and Luciano Pinotti from University of Milan, there is a thorough analysis and a search for strategies to reduce both the competition for natural resources between animal and human food production, and the unsustainable use of natural resources.

Not only does the use of agricultural by-products in animal diets decrease competition between sectors and pressure on resources, but it would also increase the availability of calories that can be directly earmarked for the human diet (eg cereals); if the saved resources are used for other purposes, including the production of plant foods lacking in current diets, it would improve food security in several countries, with healthier as well as more sustainable food choices
Camilla Govoni, researcher at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

The study shows that an 11-16% substitution of energy-intensive crops currently used as animal feed (eg cereals) with agricultural by-products (eg cereal bran, sugar beet pulp, molasses, distillery residues and citrus pulp) would save approximately between 15.4 and 27.8 million hectares of soil, between 3 and 19.6 km³ and between 74.2 and 137.8 km³ of irrigation and rainwater.

The inter-sectoral decrease in the demand for cereals is of particular relevance at a time when the supply of these crops is facing serious shortages due to the combination of the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the residual effects on the food supply of the Covid-19 pandemic, and a drop in harvests caused by increasingly frequent extreme events such as floods, droughts and heat waves induced by climate change.
Maria Cristina Rulli, Professor of Hydrology and Coordinator of the Glob3ScienCE Lab

The study online

Disegno di Laura Capellini

New catalyst makes chemical processes more efficient and less harmful to environment

Posted on 13/07/202306/08/2024 by Erik Franco

A discovery by the Politecnico di Milano opens up new perspectives in the field of sustainable chemical synthesis, promoting innovative solutions that allow chemicals to be created in a more efficient and environmentally friendly way. The research was published in the journal Nature Synthesis.

The team developed a catalyst that is more active and selective in esterification reactions, through which products used in the manufacture of medicines, food additives and polymers are formed.

The revolutionary feature of this new catalyst is that it reduces the use of rare metals, a significant step towards conserving critical resources and making processes more sustainable. In addition, the catalyst can be activated by sunlight, eliminating the need for energy-intensive methods. This discovery holds enormous potential in reducing dependence on finite resources and lowering the environmental impact of catalytic processes.

Gianvito Vilé, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering ‘Giulio Natta’, coordinated the project, while Mark Bajada, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Politecnico di Milano, is the first author of the paper. The study was conducted in close collaboration with researchers from Università di Milano Bicocca and Università di Torino, and was funded by the European Commission through a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship and a Horizon Europe project recently awarded to the Politecnico di Milano (SusPharma).

The study in Nature Synthesis

Milan neighbourhood hubs win the Earthshot Prize

Posted on 21/10/202106/08/2024 by Erik Franco

The City of Milan with its Neighbourhood Hubs Food Policy project against food waste is the winner in the “A world without waste” section, of the first edition of the international Earthshot Prize for the best solutions to protect the environment, organized by The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

On Sunday October 17th, live on the BBC and Discovery Channel, Prince William unveiled the winners after an international panel of experts selected Milan from 750 candidate initiatives from around the world. In Milan, the BBC arranged a link to London from a terrace overlooking the Duomo, which was attended by Deputy Mayor Anna Scavuzzo, with representatives of all the partners who bring this project to life.

The £1 million prize will be used to further develop the three hubs in the neighbourhoods Isola, Lambrate and Gallaratese, open new ones, ensuring their long-term sustainability, and replicate this excellent practice in the network of cities working with Milan on food policy.

The project was the result of an alliance, in 2017, between the City of Milan, Politecnico di Milano with the research group from the Deaprtment of Management Engineering “Food Sustainability Lab”, of which the Food Sustainability Observatory is part, Assolombarda, Fondazione Cariplo and the QuBì Programme.

The creation of the first Hub then brought in Banco Alimentare della Lombardia and saved over 10 tonnes of food per month, ensuring a stream of 260,000 equivalent meals in one year, reaching 3,800 people, thanks to the contribution of 20 supermarkets, 4 business canteens and 24 Third Sector organisations.

This was followed by the launch of the Hub in Lambrate, immediately after the first lockdown in spring 2020, also managed by Banco Alimentare della Lombardia in a space made available by AVIS Milano and with the support of BCC Milano. The third Hub, at Gallaratese, is managed by Terre des hommes with the support of the Fondazione Milan. Another one, currently in the planning stage, will be the neighbourhood Hub against food waste in Corvetto, managed by the Banco Alimentare della Lombardia and with the support of the Fondazione SNAM; while the Municipality of Milan has recently started the co-design process for the Hub in the city centre with Associazione IBVA and the support of BCC Milano.

The team from the Department of Management Engineering:
Alessandro Perego, Marco Melacini, Giulia Bartezzaghi, Annalaura Silvestro and Andrea Rizzuni from the Food Sustainability research group.

Partners involved:
The project involves major retailers including Lidl Italia, Esselunga, Carrefour, NaturaSi, Erbert, Coop Lombardia, Il Gigante, Bennet, Penny Market with the support of Number1 Logistics Group who provided the vans for the Isola and Lambrate hubs. With Fondazione Cariplo and SogeMi, The Municipality of Milan has also launched the Foody zero waste initiative to replicate the hub model at Ortomercato and recover fresh food together with Banco Alimentare della Lombardia, Recup, Croce rossa sud milanese, Università degli studi di Milano and many other supporting partners.