International Food Loss and Waste Awareness Day 2026: data, awards and good practices

We need an overall action that can map all the places of food waste, starting from the homes of Italians but not only. The 7th International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, established by the UN in December 2019, is celebrated on 29 September 2026. The Zero Waste Campaign will present the data from the new Waste Watcher International Report; a day to take stock of the food chain thrown away by over 13.5 billion, 7.3 billion in homes alone, for a total of over 5 million tonnes. But also to present the 2026 winners of the 'Zero Waste Living Award', the 14th edition of the small 'Italian Oscars' for sustainable development, with the best good practices to achieve the objectives of the 2030 Agenda. From the vegetable ice cream that follows the rhythm of the seasons with only natural ingredients in the Pod laboratory in Turin, to the Solidarity Garden in Valle d'Aosta to recover excess fruit and vegetables to be given to people in fragile situations, to the 'Sogno of Lola', a school short film in Castellammare di Stabia on the fight against food and environmental waste.

For the Biodiversity section, the award goes to the Experimental Consortium Station of Grain Cultivation for Sicily, a point of reference in the research and valorisation of cereal production in arid climates. Among the Schools, the Scholastic Gastronomic Circular of the Archè Institute of Catania wins for raising awareness among young people. In the Third Sector, the Magazzini Sociali solidarity network of the Io Potentino Ets association was awarded for redistributing excess food. For the Business category, Fruttagel wins, the educational project 'From the field to the counter with Ortilio' with over 40 primary classes between Emilia-Romagna and Molise. Among the new features, the special 'Relay between generations' award goes to the "Prendi in casa" project, which allows lonely elderly people to host students away from home in exchange for company and small help. Awarded for non-fiction, the volume 'United for life. History of symbiosis and cooperation' by Maurizio Casiraghi and Telmo Pievani, to understand how symbiotic relationships represent the first rule of sustainability.