Dear European Parliament,

Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information:

Following a legislative effort to reduce food waste, I am sending a brief question:

- What is the food waste in the buldings of European Parliament? (How many meals and food scraps are thrown out daily in canteens, restaurants and buffets in buildings of European Parliament?)

- How do you reducing it?

Thank you for your answer.

Yours faithfully,

Robert Brestan

AccesDocs, Parlamento Europeo

OUR REF A(2017)6776

Dear Mr Brestan,

Parliament acknowledges receipt of your request for information concerning food waste, which has been forwarded to the competent service for reply.

Best regards,

TRANSPARENCY – ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
PRES | Directorate General for the Presidency
Directorate for Interinstitutional Affairs and Legislative Coordination
[email address]

AskEP, Parlamento Europeo

A(2017)6776

RF/nk

 

 

Dear Mr Brestan,

 

The Citizens’ Enquiries Unit of the European Parliament (EP) acknowledges
the receipt of your letter on MEPs’ expenses.

 

The Citizens’ Enquiries Unit of the EP has been asked to reply.

 

Firstly, we thank you for your comments which have been read attentively.

 

Since the second semester 2013 Parliament is implementing a comprehensive
policy with the objective to drastically reduce food waste. As a
consequence, basically none of the food, which can be safely recovered and
reused in accordance with HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control
Points) and the applicable rules for food safety and hygiene, is wasted.
The responsible services in Parliament’s administration take action to
reduce the amount of food wasted, to save money and natural resources, and
help make sure that those in need are fed.

An ambitious plan for significant reduction of food-wastage at the three
sites through benchmarking, best practices and awareness raising measures
is in place aiming at 10-15% target of unsold food and leftovers.

 

This target will be achieved by an annual reduction of 5% in kg per meal
by 2019 (reference year: 2016).

 

Results achieved so far are pointing at this direction:

·         In 2016 food waste was 15% .

·         In 2015 - 15,92%.

·         In 2014 - 18,21 % .

In order to continue diminishing food wastage the following measures are
in place:

·         introduction of so-called “my portion”, which helps reduce food
waste in the canteens by giving the choice of big and small servings sold
at a different price. Catering staff is being currently trained to
actively offer it to clients with the aim of gradually expanding it to all
sale points and dishes.

·         introduction of scales at the self-service restaurants for the
weighing of certain products (such as salads).

·         introduction of “end of service”- less choice from 1.30 pm
onwards.

·         removal of presentation tables in all catering facilities and
gradual replacement by pictures on screens both on the spot and on the EP
intranet.

 

The service providers chosen by the latest public tender procedures in
Brussels’2015 and in Strasbourg’2016 have committed themselves to oversee
the management of all products and meals so that food waste and the
number of unconsumed products, which cannot be sold once service is over,
are kept to a minimum. To honour this commitment, Compass Belgilux and
Compass France (in association with DG INLO) have already set up a
procedure on food donations, which allows for the recovery of unsold foods
and their redistribution to charitable organisations, free of charge.

 

This marks a first within the EU institutional landscape, since
Parliaments’ kitchens are at the forefront of this program to distribute
ready meals in a systematic and monitored way.

 

Every day, unsold food from EP canteens in Brussels and Strasbourg is
collected and given away on a weekly basis to charitable organisations. A
great variety of dishes is on the menu of the donations such as:

·         beef brochettes, pork chops, chicken, etc.

·         a variety of other prepared foods,

·         a selection of vegetables and vegetarian dishes,

·         pasta, soup and sauces.

 

This procedure is subject to strict rules, such as:

• respect of the cold chain integrity,
• use of a thermo sealing machine to ensure that food parcels are safe
to eat.

 

There is thus no difference in quality between the dishes that are served
in the EP canteens, and the food, which is given out at charity canteens.

 

We thank you for contacting the European Parliament.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Citizens' Enquiries Unit

[1]www.europarl.europa.eu/askEP/en 

 

Disclaimer: Please note that the information given by the Citizens'
Enquiries Unit of the European Parliament is not legally binding.

 

Please also note that this email box is used for sending emails only.
Incoming emails are not treated. If you wish to contact the Citizens'
Enquiries Unit, please use our [2]webform.

 

 

References

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