A team of researchers looking to address food waste with a packaging innovation has been crowned the winner of the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Food Challenge. The Leaf No Waste team has been awarded € 2 million in funding to further develop the idea. The SFI Food Challenge is one of several under the Future Innovator Prize program, which the agency launched in 2018 to encourage researchers to tackle societal problems through challenge-based funding.
Last year, Leaf No Waste was one of five teams shortlisted for the food-focused challenge funding. Leaf No Waste focused on preventing food waste by optimising the packaging and prolonging the shelf life of fresh produce. The team noted that premature food spoilage and food waste was a side-effect of the increase in consumer demand for food in compostable and sustainable packaging.
The team worked to alleviate food spoilage caused by packaging by combining a silicon-based plant biostimulant and compostable plastic packaging.
Source: siliconrepublic.com