Agrimax to present at Cafe Scientifique; waste not want not; using new science to make more from unavoidable food waste. How can we move from our ‘throwaway society’ to a world without waste?

Wednesday 3rd July 2019, York, UK

Most of us instinctively feel that it’s wrong to waste food; and yet: around a third of all food produced is wasted, leading to both financial losses and environmental problems. Consumer campaigns in the UK such as ‘Love food, Hate Waste’ are encouraging us to become less wasteful in our everyday lives but there will always be some types of waste that are hard to avoid, particularly from farms and food processing factories; think wheat straw, potato peelings or tomato skins.

To address this global waste issue; scientists and innovative businesses are developing new ways to turn these unavoidable food wastes into a wide range of bio-based products, i.e. products that are partly (or fully) made from a renewable plant or waste material. This will reduce our dependency on petrochemicals, so providing sustainable business income and benefiting the environment.

Given by Elspeth Bartlet and Emma Needham from York based bioeconomy innovation cluster, BioVale this talk will cover the EU-funded project Agrimax. The project has built two biorefineries (like an oil-refinery but using bio-based starting materials) to develop a range of products from waste streams for the food, packaging and agricultural sectors.

The Yorkshire Philosophical Society supports the ongoing activities of Cafe Scientifique in York. Café Scientifique is a place where, a cup of coffee or a glass of wine in your hand, you can come to explore the latest ideas in science and technology. Meetings take place in cafes, bars, restaurants and even theatres, but always outside a traditional academic context.

Further details to follow.