On December 14, 2022, the United Nations General Assembly declared March 30 as International Zero Waste Day, an initiative led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN-Habitat. This initiative aims to address the global waste crisis, recognizing that households, businesses, and public service providers generate between 2.1 and 2.3 billion tons of municipal solid waste annually, while 2.7 billion…
By Sahar Azarkamand, researcher of the ARECO Fellowship at the UNESCO Chair in Life Cycle of ESCI-UPF. The European Union generated approximately 83.4 million tons of packaging waste in 2021. According to forecasts, if no measures are taken, packaging waste could increase by another 19% by 2030 (European Council, 2024). In recent years, the amount of packaging has grown more…
On International Day Against Climate Change, ARECO reaffirms its commitment to sustainability by promoting reusable packaging in the distribution of agri-food products, whose carbon footprint is 87% lower than that of single-use packaging. The International Day Against Climate Change, celebrated worldwide on October 24, is a global and unified response to the challenge posed by this phenomenon. This date, promoted…
IFCO, Euro Pool, and Logifruit assess the sustainability of their activities and their impact both financially and on people and the environment. Double Materiality has become a central issue for companies. The concept of Double Materiality was formally introduced by the European Commission in its 2019 Climate-Related Non-Financial Reporting Guidelines. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) also incorporates the…
Logistics plays a critical role in the success of any supply chain, including food supply chains. Climate change has already significantly impacted both human and natural systems. Limiting global warming to less than 2°C by 2050 requires a substantial reduction in global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Karlsson et al., 2020). Logistics activities are recognized as major contributors to GHG emissions,…
In 1972, the United Nations designated June 5 as World Environment Day to highlight that the protection and health of the environment are key issues affecting the well-being of people and global economic development. Ensuring enough food for the world’s growing population, while reducing impacts on the environment, is one of the major challenges of the 21st century (UN, 2015).…
COP 28 urged governments to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power. The conference closed with an agreement that signals the “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era by laying the groundwork for a rapid, just and equitable transition, backed by deep emission reductions and increased financing (UNFCCC, 2023a).…
An international team of the UNESCO Chair in Life Cycle and Climate Change ESCI-UPF has developed the first study to evaluate the circularity of food distribution systems in Spain. Its results have been published in the prestigious scientific journal Heliyon. The linear economy follows the take-make-waste model, based on the presumption that resource availability and ecosystem regeneration are unlimited, neglecting…
