Financial assistance from Recyc-Québec to reduce food waste
The projects aim to better manage surpluses, redistribute or transform food, as well as reduce losses.
Recyc-Québec granted $3.6 million to reuse or source reduction projects. (File Photo)
Fifteen initiatives across the province will share just over $3.6 million to reduce food waste, whether by reducing waste at source or by promoting the reuse of leftovers or surpluses.
This financial support from Recyc-Québec is granted ahead of the Week of Action Against Food Waste, which will take place from March 6 to 12.
Recyc-Québec estimates that just over 1700 tons the amount of food that could be saved from being produced and thrown away unnecessarily thanks to these projects. These aim to better manage surpluses, better redistribute or transform food and reduce losses, at all stages of biofood production.
“Each year, 1.2 million tonnes of edible food could meet the food demand of Quebecers if they were not lost and wasted. »
— Sonia Gagné, President and CEO of Recyc-Québec, in a press release
This amount represents 16% of all food that enters the province's biofood system, according to the most recent “Quantification Study of Food Losses and Waste in Quebec”.
Food residue ends up in the trash in most restaurants. (File photo)
This industry also generates 20 million tonnes of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, of which 18% (3.6 million) is directly attributable to losses and waste.
The fight against climate change requires concrete actions such as the initiatives announced today. Like consumers, Quebec businesses and organizations have a key role to play in this effort, in particular by acting from the food production stage, notes Minister Benoit Charette, responsible for the Environment. , the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks.
Among the projects selected, we note the company Aliments O'Sole Mio, which will receive a half a million dollars to improve its equipment and the programming of its production lines.
The Toujours Bon company will receive $414,511 to transform various by-products.
Pépinière Boucher, located in Saint-Ambroise, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, will receive financial support of $408,435 to transform downgraded garlic into minced garlic or puree.
One of the projects concerns the processing of deformed garlic into mashed or chopped. (File photo)
The SecondLife Market in Montreal will be paid close to $380,000 to increase its storage capacity, while the Radish Cooperative, which links various restaurants and caterers in the metropolitan area and consumers, will receive nearly $325,000 to deploy an intelligent inventory management solution.
The Banks finally, will benefit from a grant of $106,458 to launch a recovery program for frozen food products that would have ended up in the landfill.
