In 2011, the city of Milan started implementing an ambitious scheme to separately collect biowaste and recycle it. With 1.4 million inhabitants and an extremely densely populated area, this wasn’t an easy task as biowaste collection schemes are more difficult to set-up in big cities. However, after 10 years, Milan is now one of the leading examples with 95 kilograms of biowaste collected per inhabitants and a 62% waste collection rate.

With the 1st January 2024 deadline for all EU Member States to be collecting bio-waste separately, the story of Milan shows how other cities across Europe can follow in their footsteps to effectively collect and manage food waste, even in the challenging circumstances that large, densely-populated cities provide.