Project duration: 36 months
Start date: October 2011
Project website: http://www.gist-project.com/
Funded by: Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (EACI), CIP Eco-Innovation Programme
Principal investigator: Teresa Riesgo
Researchers: Jorge Portilla, Juan Valverde

Partners

Description

The main target of the GIST project is to increase the sustainable capacities and improve the environmental performance of European Food SMEs from the meat and Dairy sectors, realising a marketable and innovative ICT solutions focused on the management of environmental sustainability at food processing stage.

In this way, the achievements of the project will produce impacts in the European environment preservation, like reduction of energy and water consumption or provide the agro-businesses with different eco-innovative tools.

The proposed solution is an existing assessment and decision support tool for the management of environmental sustainability in Food SMEs based ICT tools, with a software application and a monitoring system.

The Gist software application is an existing web application intended for companies of the vegetable, Dairy and Meat Sectors that can be accessed from any computer connected to the internet using a web browser, not needing any other infrastructure. The main functionality of the application is the development of environmental impact studies.

On the other hand, the integrated monitoring system of the environmental parameters ensures a continuous functionality and data transmission requires of a wireless sensor network.

The main beneficiary of the application of these methodologies and technologies will be the SMEs of the food sector interested of having Life Cycle Assessment made in the processes taking place in their manufacturing factories.

At the same time, the achievements of the project will have a global consequence, producing impacts in the environment preservation:

• Reduction of energy consumption, water consumption, the reduction of waste water discharge and solid wastes generation.
• Provide the agro-business with different eco-innovative tools allowing the approximation of its productive processes to the sustainability concept.
• Help the agro-food sector to adapt to the legislations that prioritize the prevention and the minimisation of the environment pollution.
• Performance levels SMEs facilities to be optimised by a system for monitoring the emission and consumption levels.
• Increase the number of sustainable businesses due to their ability to predict and meet consumers’ expectations and deliver, social, economic and environmental well-being.