Project
SoliFoodWaste aims to bring both at regional and then European level SoliPain and SoliFruits, two circular economy initiatives aiming at providing social and professional support to people with disabilities. In concrete terms, the aim is to reduce food waste by creating jobs for people with disabilities.
The project in Nantes involves collecting bread, unsold fruits and vegetables, transforming them, and then reselling them, while creating sustainable jobs for people with disabilities.
Solipain: Revalorization of unsold bread in the form of pellets for animal feed and in the form of pastries for human consumption.
SoliPain is a 2018 laureate of the National Food Program (“Programme National pour l’Alimentation”).
Circular economy / Fight against food waste / Social integration / Environment
Solifruit: Revalorization of unsold fruits and vegetables in the form of soups, compotes and jams.
Objectives / Impacts by 2030:
- Impact on employment: 2000 direct / indirect jobs including 1700 for people with disabilities
- Environmental impact: revaluation of 17% of bread and 1.5% of fruit & vegetables wasted nationally (directly from producers or from wholesale markets)
- Economic impact: Value creation + 110M € / year nationwide
- Social impact: communication to change prejudices against people with disabilities and the quality of their production. Communication also to change daily practices concerning food waste of industries, distributors and individuals and allow a reduction of 10% of waste produced.
- Redistribution: 1% of benefits redistributed to NGOs involved in the environment and / or disability. 5% of food production redistributed to NGOs dedicated to food aid.
Context
Today, 500,000 people with disabilities are affected by unemployment in France (twice the national average). The ESAT (“Établissements et Service d’Aide au Travail”, French organizations providing support to people with disabilities for their inclusion into the job market) are in perpetual search for partnerships and new projects for those people looking for a job accessible to their disability.
In parallel, 20% of food production in the European Union is wasted and one in 10 suffers from hunger in France. At the scale of the Nantes bassin 600 tons of bread and 500 tons of fruits and vegetables are unsold.
The Little Extra
There are many local initiatives to revalue unsold food, the particularities of Solifoodwaste:
- The mix between circular economy and insertion of people with disabilities
- The national and European vision and impact of the project: Creation of a consortium to respond to the EU LIFE call for projects Environment / Waste category
- Partnerships with ISTIA (Angers Engineering School), ESA (Higher School of Agronomy) and INRA (National Institute of Agricultural Research)
- The partnership with Sesame Services, ESAT of the Nantes region
- The partnership with "Travie", adapted Belgian company (Brussels)
- The partnership with "Pour la solidarité", Think & Do tank (Brussels)
Written by Alice Deshons, LFC volunteer - March 2019
Last modification : 30 Mar 2020.
Handicap Travail Solidarité
"Handicap Travail Solidarité" (Handicap Work Solidarity) is an NGO founded in 2013. Its objective is to develop the professional and social integration of people with disabilities by providing support to adapted organizations that employ them. These structures allow persons with disabilities who are not able to work in an ordinary environment to pursue a professional activity. If necessary, the NGO provides medico-social and educational follow-up.