Research

On the basis of the developed guidelines for the collection of data on food waste in South Tyrol in accordance with the EU reporting requirement, a basis for possible EU-compliant methods to be applied is now available. The methodological spectrum based on the EU requirements ranges from direct measurements, mass balances, questionnaires, coefficients and waste sorting analyzes. Particularly in the case of stages 1) restaurants and food services and 2) private households, the challenge is that the share of food waste can only be determined using complex methods, since food waste is mixed with other (non-food) waste and since the origin by industry cannot be determined directly. The aim of the project is to develop a survey tool for the efficient planning and evaluation of food waste analyses in restaurants, tourism and private households. This tool should allow for the efficient planning of weighing and sorting analyses of mixed municipal waste (residual waste) and bio-bin material, whereby the requirements for representativeness and sufficient, expected accuracy of the results should be met, while keeping the number and mass of samples as low as possible in terms of analysis costs. The expected result is an MS Excel ©-based survey tool that will enable the preliminary investigation (i.e. input of regional baseline data), the determination of the required sample mass and number of individual samples, the representative drawing of the individual samples, input or transfer of the analysis data and the evaluation.

In 2023, the Institute for Wastemanagement and Circularity at the BOKU-University, in collaboration with Tafel Österreich, developed a traveling exhibition to prevent food waste. In its first year, it reached more than 5,000 students. The traveling exhibition has already shown great success in an initial evaluation and has been proven to expand the knowledge of visitors and spark interest in the topic among students between the ages of 11 and 17. An evaluation of the teaching units (worksheets and workshops) shows that the students' own parents are the most important point of contact for them, but it is not known how they can be reached most effectively in terms of reach and knowledge transfer. The following research questions will therefore be addressed in the project. How many parents are informed by their children about the exhibition and what information do they receive? Can the reach of knowledge transfer be increased by providing targeted information to parents in advance? How can a change in behavior in households be promoted and improved in the future after awareness-raising teaching has been implemented? Are there ways to actively involve the children's families?

The previous practice of open windrow composting of digestate from the biogas plant in Lana, South Tyrol, faced significant challenges, including odor nuisances that led to complaints from local residents. Due to these issues, on-site composting was discontinued, and the digestate was instead transported to other regions or exported. The aim of this project is to develop a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution for utilizing digestate that avoids the problems of the past. Optimized, low-emission on-site composting offers an opportunity to strengthen the regional circular economy, protect the environment, and reduce costs (e.g., by avoiding long transport distances). In light of the proposed Renewable Gas Act and the associated promotion of biogas production, efficient utilization of digestate is expected to become increasingly important in Austria as well. The project aims to develop an optimized process for windrow composting of digestate and residues from the food industry that minimizes odor and greenhouse gas emissions while enabling efficient utilization of this valuable resource. By combining targeted process control with comprehensive monitoring, the project seeks to create a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution for the on-site use of digestate.