The rations will reach the vulnerable groups in Hospitalet assisted by Fundació La Vinya and Fundació Àurea, thanks to Pont Alimentari.
The initiative is expected to have a significant impact on reducing food waste.
Bellvitge University Hospital (HUB) is launching a project to give surplus food, such as unopened packaged dishes or menus that have not been served, to local social organisations, ensuring food safety. As part of this initiative, the hospital has signed an agreement with the Pont Alimentari project, which sends food surplus to Fundació La Vinya and Fundació Àurea, non-profit organisations that care for people in vulnerable situations in Hospitalet de Llobregat.
The project is coordinated by the hospital's catering department and the Clece-Arcasa joint venture, which was awarded the contract for the hospital's food service. According to the Catalan Waste Agency, households, shops and restaurants generate some 262,000 tonnes of waste each year, or, in other words, around 35 kg per person. Specifically, catering and restaurant services are responsible for 4% of this sum.
In this context, the HUB has launched this initiative to make the most of the hospital's surplus cooked food. "The dishes meet all the necessary conservation, shelf life, packaging and labelling criteria and are therefore suitable for use in these reuse circuits," explained Montse Revull, head of catering at the Clece-Arcasa joint venture at Bellvitge Hospital.
Since July, the rations packaged in heat-sealed trays have been part of the Pont Alimentari circuit and have been delivered to social organisations. Pont Alimentari, a project promoted by the Waste Prevention Foundation (Rezero) and the Banc de Recursos Foundation, assigns the destination of this food, always prioritising criteria of proximity, both to save on transport and to promote social commitment within the territory.
Specifically, surplus food from the HUB is donated to: La Vinya Foundation, an organisation that takes in, cares for and accompanies children, young people and adults at social risk in the Bellvitge and Gornal neighbourhoods of Hospitalet, and Àurea Foundation, a recently created organisation in the municipality, whose aim is to cover the basic needs and medical care of disadvantaged families and elderly people.