Moscow, Russia - “Preventing food waste, promoting circular economy” was the focus of a special session, co-organized by FAO and Messe Düsseldorf Moscow at the upakovka-2020 fair, one of the major trade shows in Russia for processing and packaging machines industry.

Increasing availability and affordability of different materials and products have simplified our lives and contributed to the rise in living standards and the quality of life in the developed countries. However, our culture of consumption has resulted in excessive resource extraction and growing pressures on natural capital and climate. We need to make sure that we can continue to grow our economy in a sustainable way and improve the living standards. This will require steps for changing the way we produce, transform, consume and distribute food by accelerating the transition to a sustainable food system based on circular economy principles. This will in turn not only cut waste, it will also reduce the need for new resources to be extracted at great financial and environmental cost.

The event was aimed to present the local and international cases and good practices in adopting the principles of circular economy. The speakers paid particular attention to the challenges and opportunities of this transition, and reflected on the capacity of business entities in Russia to capitalize on switching to a new, more sustainable model of production across the agri-food sector.

Shifting to the circular economy approach would “promote economic growth through closed-loop systems and new market opportunities and climate change mitigation as a result of efficient use of resources”, said Myriam Annette, FAO Food Loss and Waste consultant from the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia.

Other speakers included representatives from public sector, research institutions, companies and non-governmental organizations, all speaking about different aspects of circular economy. The highlights of the presentations are available here.