CFSL. Circular Food System Lab is a multidisciplinary and modular research laboratory conceived by the Department of Design of Politecnico di Milano, with the Departments of Mechanics and Electronics, Information and Bioengineering.
CFSL works on the circular transition and digital transformation of food systems in metropolitan, urban and peri-urban contexts and develops competitive research and consulting activities for companies and institutions.
CFSL configures itself as a Living Lab capable of collaborating with external contexts and their circularity initiatives, focusing on the search for product-service solutions for circular innovation in food systems. The main reference for these activities is the Farm to Fork Strategy (EU Green Deal 2020), which promotes:

• the ecological transition of agri-food systems, fostering the development of sustainable and safe supply chains at different stages (production, processing and distribution) and related services such as hospitality and restaurants
• the consumption of sustainable food and the transition to healthy eating habits;
• the reduction of waste and the fight against food fraud along the supply chain;
• the biodiversity of agri-food systems.

The areas of activity of the CFS Lab are:

• competitive research through participation in research and innovation programmes, both national and non-national, related to the topic of Circular Food Systems;
• consultancy research for large companies and SMEs, bodies and institutions, with the aim of supporting Circular Food Systems innovation at the product-service and/or process-system level;
• patents and technical-scientific support for start-up initiatives dedicated to Circular Food Systems, especially within the Politecnico;
• public engagement, organisation of events and initiatives with public and private stakeholders interested in Circular Food Systems.

CFSL's technical-scientific approach is centred on action-research, participatory research and hands-on experimentation aimed at developing pilot projects at the scale of individual processes (with associated reference technologies), individual product-services, and proof-of-concept (PoC) with the prototyping and testing of systems, devices and applications in the various fields of Food Systems at territorial/sectoral scales.

CFS Lab combines design-driven innovation with technological innovation in the fields of mechanical, electronic, computer and bioengineering, thus giving concrete form to technological solutions applicable to product-services for Circular Food Systems.

Areas of research and specialisation:

Smart farming and circular precision agriculture explores the development of product-service systems for circular precision agriculture with a focus on:

• automated solutions for vertical and urban farming and collaborative robotics for small and very small-scale agriculture (for micro and self-producers);
• solutions for monitoring the natural growth and ripening of foodstuffs and traceability of biodiversity in food ecosystems;
• solutions for dedicated field production labelling, including new forms of packaging and harvesting services, sorting and valorisation of food waste in the field.

Circular and digital food processing explores the development of product-service systems for circular food processing, focusing on:

• ioT solutions and digital manufacturing processes related to alternative food processing (e.g. plant-based food);
• solutions enabling circular food processing and preservation processes enabled by digital manufacturing;
• systems and devices for tracking material and energy flows in food production and processing systems.

Smart and Circular Food Logistics explores the development of product-service systems for logistics and distribution within food systems with a focus on tracking and processing of food goods and logistics chains and product-product systems (for protection, transport, packaging, labelling, etc.), including the experimental use of circular materials and packaging and the application of digital product passports to food systems.

Extended food experiences explores the development of chemical/physical measurement devices and systems such as electronic noses and enabling technologies such as augmented/extended reality to develop sensory experiences with food and gain deeper understanding of food systems, both by food system operators and end users.

Inclusive food systems explores the development of product-service solutions that increase the social inclusiveness of food experiences and food systems.

Circular food waste explores the development of product-services solutions for the collection and valorisation of food and food waste with solutions for intelligent and automated processes of sorting, management and sorting of waste and discards within food systems and solutions for circular processes of recovery, extraction and recycling of post-consumer materials (secondary raw materials) from food systems.

User testing/studies, is an area transversal to the entire laboratory and aims to use the laboratory's equipment and/or tools and prototypes developed by it to carry out tests with users (including groups) within pilot projects or in the development of user studies for research and consultancy projects.

Space food and food for extreme environments, transversal to the entire research group, aims to use the laboratory's equipment and/or tools and prototypes developed by it to experiment, design and develop solutions for growing, transforming, transporting, consuming and enhancing food in ‘alien’ environments (the theme of food in the current permanence in space and with a view to its future colonisation) and in extreme environments (e.g. deep ocean depths) or environments that have become such due to climate change (e.g. prolonged droughts, ...).