Terms of Use

Last Updated: October 28, 2025

1. ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) constitute a legally binding agreement between you (“User,” “you,” or “your”) and the Waste2Plate Project (“Project,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), concerning your access to and use of the www.waste2plate.com website, including any community features, content, resources, and related services (collectively, the “Service”). The Waste2Plate project is supported by EIT Food.

By accessing, registering for, browsing, or using our Service, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy (incorporated herein by reference and available at Privacy Policy – Waste2Plate). If you do not agree with these Terms, please discontinue use of the Service immediately.

2. PROJECT INFORMATION

  • Project Name: Waste2Plate
  • Project Lead Organization: Unkown Group
  • Consortium Members: Beautiful Lives, Food4Sustainability, KiCo, University of Turin
  • Funding Body: EIT Food
  • EIT Food Supervising Entity Contact:
    • EIT Food Central Support Office
    • Agora-Office, Philipssite 5, Leuven Belgium

3. SERVICE DESCRIPTION

Waste2Plate, supported by EIT Food, is a transformative initiative aimed at addressing food waste challenges. We empower startups, researchers, food businesses, and other stakeholders within the food system to connect, collaborate, and develop innovative, sustainable, and marketable solutions using upcycled food ingredients and reducing food loss. Our Service includes:

  • Educational Resources: Providing information and guidance on food waste prevention and valorisation.
  • Community Platform: An interactive space (powered by BuddyBoss) for registered users (“Members”) including:
    • Member Profiles: Allowing users to share information about themselves or their organization.
    • Activity Feeds: Enabling users to post updates, share insights, and interact with content related to food waste reduction.
    • Social Groups & Forums: Facilitating discussions and collaboration around specific topics or projects.
    • Private Messaging: Allowing direct communication between members.
    • File Sharing (Media/Documents): Enabling users to manage personal documents via their profile and access shared resources within designated groups (e.g., “Program Documents”).
  • Connection Services: Facilitating networking opportunities between food waste generators, processors, innovators, and other relevant parties.
  • Program Information: Details about Waste2Plate programs, cohorts, and events.

4. USER ELIGIBILITY

  • 4.1 Age Requirements: You must be at least 18 years old to create an account and use the interactive features of our Service. By using the Service, you represent and warrant that you meet this age requirement.
  • 4.2 Intended Users: The Service is primarily intended for startups, scale-ups, SMEs, researchers, industry professionals, and organizations actively involved or interested in food waste reduction, circular economy practices within the food system, and sustainable food innovation.
  • 4.3 Business Users: If you are using the Service on behalf of a business or organization, you represent that you have the authority to bind such entity to these Terms.
  • 4.4 Geographical Scope: Our Service primarily targets users and entities within the European Union and Horizon Europe-associated countries, reflecting its EIT Food context. Users from other jurisdictions may access the Service but are responsible for compliance with their local laws.

5. ACCEPTABLE USE & COMMUNITY GUIDELINES

  • 5.1 Permitted Uses: You may use our Service for lawful purposes that align with the project’s goals, including:
    • Accessing information and resources about food waste reduction and valorisation.
    • Participating constructively in community discussions, groups, and forums.
    • Networking with other members for collaboration and knowledge sharing.
    • Managing your user profile and uploading relevant documents (where applicable).
    • Applying for or participating in Waste2Plate programs (subject to specific program rules).
  • 5.2 Prohibited Activities: You agree not to use the Service to:
    • Violate any applicable local, national, or international laws or regulations.
    • Post, upload, or share content that is unlawful, fraudulent, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, profane, threatening, abusive, hateful, harassing, discriminatory, or otherwise objectionable.
    • Infringe upon the intellectual property rights (copyrights, trademarks, patents), privacy rights, or other rights of Waste2Plate or any third party.
    • Transmit spam, chain letters, malware, viruses, or any other harmful or disruptive code.
    • Attempt to gain unauthorized access to our systems, user accounts, or data.
    • Impersonate any person or entity or falsely state or misrepresent your affiliation.
    • Engage in excessive or inappropriate commercial solicitation (spamming).
    • Disrupt the normal flow of dialogue or negatively affect other users’ ability to engage with the Service.
    • Collect or store personal data about other users without their consent or in violation of applicable data protection laws (e.g., GDPR).
  • 5.3 Community Moderation: We reserve the right, but are not obligated, to monitor, moderate, edit, or remove user-generated content and to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms, with or without notice. We may cooperate with law enforcement authorities in investigating violations.

6. USER-GENERATED CONTENT

  • 6.1 Responsibility: You are solely responsible for any content you post, upload, message, or otherwise make available through the Service (“User Content”). You represent and warrant that you have all necessary rights to submit your User Content and that it does not violate these Terms or any third-party rights.
  • 6.2 Ownership: You retain ownership of the intellectual property rights in your User Content.
  • 6.3 License Grant: By submitting User Content, you grant Waste2Plate and its consortium partners a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, and sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, distribute, publicly perform, and display such User Content solely for the purposes of operating, promoting, and improving the Service and the Waste2Plate project, consistent with the Service’s privacy settings. This license ends when you delete your User Content or your account, except to the extent your content has been shared with others who have not deleted it, or where necessary for backups, legal obligations, or project reporting requirements (anonymized where appropriate).
  • 6.4 Confidentiality: The community platform includes public and private areas (e.g., private groups, private messages). Be mindful of where you share information. Do not post sensitive personal or confidential business information in publicly accessible areas. Waste2Plate is not responsible for the misuse of information you voluntarily share.

7. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (PROJECT CONTENT)

  • 7.1 Our Content: All content provided by the Project on the Service, including text, graphics, logos, images, software, educational materials, and project reports (“Project Content”), is owned by or licensed to the Waste2Plate project consortium members and/or EIT Food, and is protected by intellectual property laws.
  • 7.2 Limited License: We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Project Content solely for informational, educational, and non-commercial purposes related to your participation in or engagement with the Waste2Plate project, subject to these Terms.
  • 7.3 Restrictions: You may not reproduce, modify, distribute, sell, or exploit any Project Content for commercial purposes unrelated to the Waste2Plate project’s goals without prior written permission from the Project Lead Organization. All copyright and proprietary notices must be retained.

8. FOOD SAFETY AND COMPLIANCE

  • 8.1 Regulatory Compliance: All users engaging in food-related activities discussed or facilitated through our platform must comply with all applicable EU food safety regulations (e.g., Regulations 178/2002, 852/2004, 853/2004), national food safety laws in their respective countries, local health and safety regulations, and environmental protection laws.
  • 8.2 Food Safety Disclaimer: Waste2Plate provides a platform for connection and information sharing. We do not endorse, guarantee, or take responsibility for the safety, quality, legality, or regulatory compliance of any food items, ingredients, processes, or advice shared by users through the Service. Users are solely responsible for ensuring their activities and products comply with all applicable food safety standards and regulations.
  • 8.3 HACCP Compliance: Users handling food products are responsible for implementing and maintaining appropriate Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) systems or equivalent food safety management systems as required by relevant regulations.

9. PRIVACY AND DATA PROTECTION

Our collection, use, and protection of your personal information is governed by our Privacy Policy, available at Privacy Policy – Waste2Plate. Please review it carefully. By using the Service, you consent to the data practices described therein.

10. USER ACCOUNTS

  • 10.1 Account Creation: Access to community features requires account creation. You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration and to update it as necessary.
  • 10.2 Account Security: You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account password and for all activities that occur under your account. You agree to immediately notify us of any unauthorized use or security breach. Use a strong, unique password.
  • 10.3 Account Termination: We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your account and access to the Service at our sole discretion, without notice or liability, for conduct that we believe violates these Terms or is harmful to other users, us, third parties, or for any other reason.

12. DISCLAIMERS

  • 12.1 Service Availability: The Service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. We do not guarantee that the Service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free. We may need to suspend access for maintenance or other reasons without notice.
  • 12.2 Third-Party Content & Links: Our Service may contain links to third-party websites, services, or content provided by other users. We are not responsible for, and do not endorse, such third-party content or the privacy practices of third parties. Your interactions with third parties are solely between you and them.
  • 12.3 Limitation of Warranties: To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement regarding the Service and its content.
  • 12.4 No Guarantee of Success: Participation in the Waste2Plate project or use of the Service does not guarantee any specific business outcome, funding, partnership, or commercial success for users or their ventures.
  • 12.5 User Content Disclaimer: We are not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, legality, or usefulness of any User Content. Content shared in the community represents the views of the individual user, not necessarily those of Waste2Plate, its consortium partners, or EIT Food.

13. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall Waste2Plate, its consortium partners, EIT Food, or their respective directors, officers, employees, or agents be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits or revenues, whether incurred directly or indirectly, or any loss of data, use, goodwill, or other intangible losses, resulting from (a) your access to or use of or inability to access or use the Service; (b) any conduct or content of any third party on the Service; (c) any content obtained from the Service; or (d) unauthorized access, use, or alteration of your transmissions or content.

14. INDEMNIFICATION

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Waste2Plate, its consortium partners, EIT Food, and their respective officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any and all claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs or debt, and expenses (including but not limited to attorney’s fees) arising from: (a) your use of and access to the Service; (b) your violation of any term of these Terms; (c) your violation of any third-party right, including without limitation any copyright, property, or privacy right; or (d) any claim that your User Content caused damage to a third party.

15. DISPUTE RESOLUTION

  • 15.1 Governing Law: These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Portugal and applicable European Union law, without regard to conflict of law principles.
  • 15.2 Informal Resolution: We encourage you to contact us first at hello@unkowngroup.com to seek resolution of any dispute.
  • 15.3 Alternative Dispute Resolution: We are open to resolving disputes through alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation or arbitration. EU users may utilize the European Commission’s Online Dispute Resolution platform: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr.
  • 15.4 Jurisdiction: Any legal action or proceeding arising under these Terms will be brought exclusively in the competent courts located in Portugal, and the parties hereby irrevocably consent to the personal jurisdiction and venue therein.

16. FORCE MAJEURE

We shall not be liable for any failure to perform our obligations hereunder where such failure results from any cause beyond our reasonable control, including, without limitation, mechanical, electronic, or communications failure or degradation, natural disasters, acts of war or terrorism, pandemics, or governmental actions.

17. SEVERABILITY

If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, that provision will be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions of these Terms will remain in full force and effect.

18. MODIFICATIONS TO TERMS

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to modify or replace these Terms at any time. If a revision is material, we will provide at least 30 days’ notice prior to any new terms taking effect, via email or a prominent notice on the Service. What constitutes a material change will be determined at our sole discretion. Your continued use of the Service after such modifications constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms.

19. ENTIRE AGREEMENT

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, constitute the entire and exclusive understanding and agreement between Waste2Plate and you regarding the Service, and supersede and replace any and all prior oral or written understandings or agreements between Waste2Plate and you regarding the Service.

20. ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS FOR EU USERS

  • 20.1 Consumer Rights: If you are using the Service as a consumer based in the EU, you may have additional statutory rights under consumer protection laws which are not affected by these Terms. However, please note that many features of this Service are intended for business or professional users.
  • 20.2 Language: These Terms are provided in English. The English version shall be the governing version.
  • 20.3 Accessibility: We strive to make our Service accessible. If you encounter any accessibility barriers, please contact us.

21. CONTACT INFORMATION

If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us at: hello@unkowngroup.com

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