NEWS

On May 6, 2026, three European State Prizes were awarded at the Federal Chancellery.

The CEFoodCycle project was honored in the category “Shaping Europe” for its innovative contribution to reducing food waste and promoting a sustainable circular economy in Europe.

At the heart of the EU-funded Interreg Alpine Space project CEFoodCycle is the question of how food flows along the entire value chain—from production to disposal—can be used more efficiently. Together with partners from Austria, Germany, France, Italy, and Slovenia, the project developed practical solutions for a circular food economy.

A key outcome is the digital platform  FoodCycle.ai, which supports companies, municipalities, and organizations in analyzing food surpluses, identifying utilization opportunities, and connecting with suitable partners along the value chain. The project was complemented by so-called “Circular Food Hubs,” regional networks bringing together stakeholders from agriculture, trade, energy production, and social services.

On October 23, 2025, the Great Hall of the University of Salzburg transformed into a space for exchange, inspiration, and collaboration. Under the title “Circular Solutions in Textile & Food – Bridging Sectors, Borders & Strategies” researchers, students, NGOs, representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises as well as larger companies, and decision-makers from politics and public administration came together to discuss circular solutions across sectors and national borders.

Couldn’t make it? Would you like to get a first impression of the event? Then take a look at the highlights video.

Have you developed a taste for more and would like to learn more about the event? Then watch the full recording of the event on UniTV Salzburg under  Circular Solutions in Textile & Food.

Recent debates on circular economy and bio-based value creation often assume that residual materials can be readily transformed into economic opportunity. Our empirical evidence shows that waste does not become a resource by default. Value creation from residual materials depends on the alignment of material conditions, institutional frameworks, and business model logics. In practice, this alignment is often missing.
 
Our recent research on waste valorization in material-intensive industries demonstrates three recurring challenges.

🎯 Material constraints
Residual materials are heterogeneous, geographically dispersed, and often contaminated. Availability, quality, and timing rarely match industrial demand.
 
🎯 Institutional fragmentation
Regulations, standards, and subsidies are frequently inconsistent or contested. Without regulatory clarity and shared definitions of what counts as “circular,” investment risks remain high.
 
🎯 Business model misfit
High logistics costs, limited market demand for secondary materials, and weak price signals undermine value capture, even when recycling is technically feasible.
 
The key insight is sobering but necessary: Circular economy is not about maximizing utilization, but about selective valorization under systemic conditions.
Rather than asking “How can we monetize waste?”, a more productive question is:
 
Under which institutional, material, and organizational conditions does waste actually become valuable?
 
Only by addressing these conditions jointly across policy, markets, and value chains can circular economy move beyond symbolic narratives toward structurally viable models.

Has your interest been sparked? Then you can find more information in the original paper and in the   podcast.

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Image credit: iessephoto on pixabay.com

The Doctoral School PLUS (DSP) “Organization Studies” is a research platform at the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg that focuses on the institutional expectations and demands placed on organizations and their responses to these.

Through interdisciplinary collaboration and a broad theoretical foundation from the fields of organizational and management research, communication science, psychology, and consumer behavior, the DSP “Organization Studies” examines the central role of organizations and organizational practices in shaping and adapting to dynamic challenges in business and society. A key goal of the DSP is to empirically test and further develop existing organizational theories.

The five research focuses of the DSP for Organization Studies are:
– Adoption of Structures and Practices
– Circular Economy and Organizations
– Psychological Diagnostics
– Human Resource Management (HRM)
– Organizational Communication

For more information, please visit the DSP College for Organization Studies page.