The Zero Waste Chefs EU educational project, coordinated by IbizaPreservation, will publish a guide to good practices for vocational training centers in the restaurant industry in June
18 May 2025 – IbizaPreservation continues to advance the development of the European project Zero Waste Chefs EU , an educational initiative that seeks to reduce food waste in the restaurant sector through vocational training. Funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ program, the project involves the IES Isidor Macabich in Ibiza and the Tallinna Teeninduskool in Estonia, in an international collaboration that promotes more sustainable cuisine at the European level.
“IbizaPreservation is proud to see how Ibizan cuisine, with its richness in local ingredients and traditional techniques, will be present in educational centers throughout Europe thanks to the Zero Waste Chefs EU project,” explains Inma Saranova, the foundation’s director. In this regard, teachers at the IES Isidor Macabich have recently worked on creating recipes that utilise products commonly considered waste, integrating them into dishes using preservation techniques such as sous-vide, pickling, or dehydrating. These creations, developed and created alongside students, will be part of the future “Zero Waste Good Practice Guide,” an educational tool that will be published at the end of June and distributed to vocational training centers throughout Europe.
“These creations are the result of a process in which the students contributed their ideas, the teachers guided the development, and together they created real dishes,” explains Nacho López , a teacher at IES Isidor Macabich. “Seeing the final result has been very motivating for the students because it allowed them to understand the value of the entire process: from the initial idea to the finished dish,” he adds.
The project, which will run until August, includes several phases, including teacher training workshops, the design and implementation of educational modules, and the creation and dissemination of training materials . Teachers and students from the Estonian school Tallinna Teeninduskool visited Ibiza last year, and later, teachers from the IES Isidor Macabich traveled to Tallinn, Estonia, with representatives from IbizaPreservation. In addition, the Estonian delegation will visit Ibiza again in June. During these visits, both delegations will work on the development of the “Zero Waste Good Practice Guide,” share teaching methodologies, and participate in practical classes and visits to local initiatives focused on sustainable cuisine.
Zero Waste Chefs EU is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 12, which focuses on responsible consumption and production. The resulting guide aims to be a practical resource that fosters innovation in food waste management in training and professional kitchens across Europe. “Being able to share our approach to more sustainable and creative gastronomy not only highlights our culinary culture, but also demonstrates that it is possible to reduce food waste without sacrificing flavor or identity. It is inspiring to think that students from different countries will learn from our recipes and techniques, and that Ibiza can be a benchmark in the transition toward zero-waste cuisine,” concludes Inma Saranova.
