Dr. Orr Karassin, Chair of the newly established Open University Environment and Sustianability Research Centre, in collaboration with Prof. Manoj Dora from Angelia Ruskin University in the U.K , has won a Wohl Clean Growth Alliance Grant managed by the British Council in partnership with U.K Science and Innovation Network, The Israeli Ministry of innovation Science and Technology and the Wohl Legacy,  for their joint collaborative project on: A Circular pathway for a Sustainable Food Economy in Israel and UK.

This project aims at charting a pathway for circular bioeconomy in the food services sector in Israel and the U.K with the goal of addressing food waste. Food loss and waste (FLW) is one of the most urgent sustainability problems plaguing the food supply chain. It is the source of numerous environmental problems, a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and to food insecurity. Addressing FLW requires action along the supply chain. It entails reforming behaviors and managerial practices, promoting cooperation between food businesses and redistributing, reusing, and recycling businesses. The project will map the existing public policies in Israel and the U.K as well as available technological solutions for the food service sector and allow for mutual learning between both domains. 

The core aim of the project will be to assemble representatives of major food service organizations (such as hospitals) in both countries and to test with them the potential for the adoption of a tailored circular food management practices using a management kit. In doing so, we will be able to estimate the potential for food waste reduction and the implementation of business value driven circular food management models in these organizations, which are currently large waste creators.