A recent report by the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic, the Global FoodBanking Network, and the Global Methane Hub evaluates policies aimed at reducing food waste in South Korea, France, and Peru. They find that all three countries successfully reduced food waste or increased food donations.
According to the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP), the world wasted over 1.05 billion tons of food in 2022. About 60 percent of waste occurred at the household level, followed by foodservice, then retail.
“We are living a paradox where we have 800 million people facing hunger and at the same time we are losing or wasting 30 percent of the food,” Ana Catalina Suárez Peña, Senior Director of Strategy and Innovation at the Global FoodBanking Network, tells Food Tank.
Much of this food ends up in landfills, where it emits methane—a potent greenhouse gas. About 50 percent of the waste in landfills is organic, says Suarez Peña.
“The most important policy should be around prevention, and then it should be keeping food in the human supply chain,” Heather Latino, Clinical Instructor at Harvard’s Food Law and Policy Clinic tells Food Tank. “Only after that should we be thinking about things like getting it to animal feed or composting or disposal,” she says.
South Korea’s policies encourage prevention and food waste recycling. The country banned food waste disposal in landfills in 2005 and implemented mandatory composting for all generators, including individuals, in 2013. They focus on prevention by charging generators based on the volume of food waste they produce, which they track using chip technology. For households, the price tag is small, about US$0.06 per kilogram. But the consequences for improperly disposing of food waste are significant: industrial producers are subject to imprisonment and up to US$22,500 in fines, and households may be fined up to US$7,500.
While Latino thinks enforcement mechanisms are important, she doesn’t think punitive measures have been the most influential parts of these policies. In South Korea, she highlights robust public outreach and education campaigns throughout and beyond the policy-making process.
Latino thinks the same trend holds for France. The country began to phase in mandatory composting in 2012, and in 2016 they prohibited supermarkets from destroying surplus food. They also require supermarkets to form partnerships with food recovery organizations.
“Some people I talked to in France weren’t aware of any enforcement actions,” says Latino, which include fines and potential imprisonment. Despite this, a government survey finds that 80 percent of the covered entities were complying with the policies.
Like France, Peru requires that supermarkets and food warehouses donate surplus food instead of throwing it away. Though the law includes tax incentives, it does not currently have an enforcement mechanism. Stakeholders in the report describe an ongoing lack of awareness around the food donation requirement and express a desire for more governmental guidance and technical assistance.
Despite differences in policy design, the report shows that policies in all three countries have achieved some form of success. “The most remarkable statistic coming out of South Korea is that by 2014 they were sending 96 percent of their food waste to recycling,” says Latino, noting that this marks a 60 percent increase over 13 years.
France saw increases in the amount, frequency, and diversity of food donations. According to Cosmero, 96 percent of surveyed supermarkets had food donation contracts in place three years after enactment of the Food Donation Contract Requirement, and half of the supermarkets were donating daily.
Peru is just beginning to develop a methodology for tracking food loss and waste data. But the available data show that in the year following enactment of the Food Donation Requirement, food bank donations tripled. But waste generation in Peru is growing overall, according to the report.
While it’s difficult to quantify direct policy impacts on methane emissions, the report shows emissions reductions in South Korea and France. In contrast, Peru has seen an increase in emissions. But according to Latino, the country has suffered significant political and climatic instability in recent years, which has slowed progress on food waste reduction efforts.
“The main message here is there is not a perfect formula to be successful,” says Suarez Peña. “It’s a mix of things. Sometimes regulations are better. Sometimes incentives work better. It depends on the country and context.”
No matter the policy, Latino underscores the importance of robust stakeholder engagement, public education, phased implementation, and “making sure that you have the right incentives in place.”
“Even in a perfect world, there’s going to be surplus food,” says Latino. “The key is making sure it’s more affordable to keep food in the human supply chain than to throw it away.”
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Photo courtesy of Lesly Derksen, Unsplash
