PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
LIFE GLEANSMART will reshape the paradigm of fruit food losses by proving a tested methodology to strategically plan new harvesting and gleaning procedures to improve the farmers' competitiveness and to decrease the food losses by their upcycling, introducing those non-harvested fruits into a new circular value chain. In Europe, a total of 28.4 Mt per year of fresh fruit is lost or wasted, representing 22% of the overall EU food waste. Fruit losses occur along the whole value chain but a remarkable 23% (6.5 Mt) is lost in the primary production stage, during cultivation and harvesting. However, accurate quantification of these losses coupled with their intrinsic reasoning is missing to develop suitable strategies for reducing them. By saving 6.5 Mt of fruit we would also be saving 2.3 Mt CO2-eq related emissions equal to GHGs emitted by 343,238 EU citizens. The project goal is to develop a new circular value chain based on the accurate food losses quantification for planning the recovery of at least 25% of the current fruit losses at the primary stage and its transformation into 6 added-value upcycled powdered food ingredients validated in 3 food products. GLEANSMART will be developed by an interdisciplinary consortium of 5 partners during 3 years with a budget of 2 M€. LIFE GLEANSMART project will validate a methodology for upcycling food losses based on data-driven decision-supported decisions, an innovative autonomous robotics system (up to TRL-7), and a digital support platform to help farmers to strategize harvesting and reduce fruit losses. Robotic solutions will be validated in 3 real fruit orchards located in Spain for 3 types of fruits (pomes, citrus, and stone fruits) covering the most representative EU crop types. LIFE GLEANSMART contributes to the achievement of the new Action Plan for the Circular Economy, the Farm to Fork Strategy at the heart of the EU Green Deal, and the EU's commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (12.3) target on food waste