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http://academic.lexisnexis.nl.proxy.hanze.nl/

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Germany throws out 11 million kilograms of food every year and Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt has a plan to halve that amount by 2030.

Expiry dates printed on food product labels have a lot to with food waste, according to Schmidt. "Too much food ends up in the trash, even though it's still edible," he told HuffPost Germany.

Schmidt, who belongs to the conservative Christian Social Union, became Germany's agriculture minister in 2014.

His vision is for food products to use smart packaging that can inform consumers when it is no longer edible. A computer chip in a yoghurt-cup could measure if it's still consumable, for example.

We need conscious consumers who know where food belongs -- in your mouth and stomach, not in the garbage bin. Christian Schmidt

Schmidt has promised to dedicate 10 million euros to fund research projects and startups that will work toward his goal of finding better ways to determine the freshness of food.

HuffPost Germany spoke with Schmidt about his idea for this project, which he has titled: "Too good for the garbage."
Mr. Minister, when was the last time you caught yourself throwing away food that was still in decent condition?
It was a half-torn biscuit that I couldn't finish. Usually I'll have that packed up and take it with me. I'm strict with myself.
Well, you have to say that now.
No, I actually always feel guilty when food is thrown out. As someone who grew up in a baker's family, I was raised that way ― bread wasn't just tossed out. And I grew up at a time when food wasn't easily discarded. We have to return to an appreciation for food.
Are younger generations more wasteful?
Yes, there is a generation gap. Those over 60 throw away less food than the under-30s.
Why do you think that is?
It's an abundance frame of mind ― people think it's no longer necessary to conserve food. Waste has almost become an "everyday" thing. That's why I'm also fighting for nutrition education to become firmly anchored into our curriculums. We simply need a different approach to our food. This needs to start early.
How would educating children help the food waste problem?
It is sometimes the case that the parents aren't raising the children, but that the children are raising the parents. Sometimes, this is a good thing. We need conscious consumers who know where food belongs ― in your mouth and stomach, not in the garbage bin.
Is it really that simple? A big part of food waste is produced by households.
Each of us, on average, throws out 82kg of food each year ― that's way too much. That's why we can, and we must, do a great deal to combat food waste. But it's not just about the consumers. The problem is much more complex. For example, we live in a "packaging culture." Everything is packaged in portions ― but these are not always appropriately sized for singles or for quick purchases. People go for the bigger packages, because there's nothing in the smaller packages. This gives rise to additional waste.

My goal is to cut food waste in half by 2030.
About three months ago, you announced that you would reform the expiration date. When will consumers notice a difference at the supermarket?
As part of my innovation funding program, there are now around 10 million euros available for the development of "smart packaging," among other things. These packages would display the information about the quality of the food and help to replace the expiration dates printed on packages in the long term.

And, in my opinion there shouldn't be an expiration date on non-perishable products such as coffee, noodles and flour. I'm working on that at the EU level. I will also hold talks with businesses to develop criteria to give expiration dates to specific foods. I assume reforms could be on the way within the next two years.
Do you think that this decision could be postponed because of Brexit?
I don't believe so. We must free ourselves from thinking that all issues need British approval. Frankly, the expiration date issue has no copyright. If the United Kingdom wants to join, I would have no problems with that. The 27 remaining countries will move forward with this issue anyway.
France has taken it one step further: French supermarkets are no longer allowed to throw anything out. Perishable food must be donated, decaying food composted or processed into animal feed. More and more Germans want to see a similar initiative in Germany.
There will be no such law in Germany. First, German supermarkets are much more likely to give food to social institutions just before the expiration date than French supermarkets. We don't need to over-regulate here. Secondly, the change in regulation changes nothing about the root problem, namely, the surplus. Too much food is tossed out despite being edible.
Is it enough to cut the amount of food thrown out in half by 2030? Germany has committed to this goal before the United Nations.
With the federal prize for the engagement against food waste, we're finding businesses and projects. In the past year alone, we've had hundreds of submissions and good ideas ― that was a pleasant surprise. A new round of the competition started in early July.

Many people in Germany are already committed to combating food waste ― whether through volunteering, unusual business ideas, trade innovations, gastronomy or food production.

I want to strengthen and promote this engagement. I'll also turn the initiative "Too good for the garbage" into a national strategy to combat food waste. To achieve this, we need the participation of people in the food industry, as well as people in the different states and NGOs.
This piece originally appeared on HuffPost Germany and has been translated into English.

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Germany Has An Ambitious Strategy To Halve Food Waste By 2030

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Germany throws out 11 million kilograms of food every year and Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt has a plan to halve that amount by 2030. Expiry dates printed on food product labels have a lot to with food waste, according to Schmidt. "Too much food ends up in the trash, even though it's still edible," he told HuffPost Germany.

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Several restaurants in Germany have come up with a novel way to reduce food waste. Condé Nast Traveler reports that the restaurants, which include two Japanese restaurants and a Chinese-Mongolian restaurant, have started fining customers who fail to finish their meals.

The idea is not to make an extra buck off of stuffed patrons but to encourage them to order only what they are able to eat.

At Yuoki in Stuttgart, customers who don't finish the food they take from the restaurant's all-you-can-eat sushi buffet will now be charged €1 ($1.15) as part of the restaurant's new "eat up or pay up" policy. Customers tend to overload their plates during the two-hour buffet. While the €1 fee is unlikely to break any wallets, restaurant owner Guoyu Luan hopes it will help remind people not to waste food. "It's called 'all-you-can-eat,' not 'all-you-can-chuck-away,'" he told the Stuttgarter-Zeitung.

Like Yuoki, the Düsseldorf restaurant Okinii charges €1 for leftover food. While Yuoki recently implemented their policy, Okinii has had theirs in place, apparently without major complaints from the public, since 2013. And in North Rhine-Westphalia, the Chinese-Mongolian restaurant Himalaya, also charges wasteful customers, though their policy is a bit more lax: Customers are hit with a €2 ($2.25) fee only if more than 3.5 ounces of food are left on their plates.

While all three restaurants seem to have implemented their wastefulness fees without a major pushback, it remains to be seen whether other restaurants around the world will pick up on the trend.
Source: www.mentalfloss.com

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Several restaurants in Germany have come up with a novel way to reduce food waste. Condé Nast Traveler reports that the restaurants, which include two Japanese restaurants and a Chinese-Mongolian restaurant, have started fining customers who fail to finish their meals.

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A six-year-old sniffs asparagus suspiciously as his father grapples with a grapefruit and several women admire a selection of cabbages, in search of a bargain.

"Everyone pays 20 kroner (about £2) for a reusable bag to fill with whatever they like," says Bettina Bach, 31, of Bo Welfare, a social housing project in the Danish city of Horsens that runs the food waste pop-up shop.

"We collect fruit and vegetables from local supermarkets to sell twice a week. It may be that the packaging's damaged or it's nearing its best before date, but it's still good food - so we thought, why let it go to waste?"

Bach and a group of volunteers sell to 100-150 locals each week, and are at the grassroots end of Denmark's battle against food waste, which is one of the most concerted in the world, and has cut waste by a quarter since 2010.

"Customers include those on benefits, refugees, low-income families - anyone really," says Bach. "We don't ask their background as many people need help these days with cutbacks. There's also a big focus on the environment in Denmark - plus we have really high taxes. Danes love to save money and if they can help the planet at the same time, it's win-win."

Up the road is Horsens' Visionary Kitchen where volunteers prepare free meals from shop-donated food that has reached its sell-by date. At volunteer-run food bank Kolding Madhjælp, pallets of supermarket produce that have been wrongly marked and might otherwise be destroyed are stocked alongside surplus food from a nearby hotel. Copenhagen's first food waste supermarket, Wefood, has been such a success that a second is planned for Aarhus in 2017.

Startup Too Good To Go tackles waste from Danes' favourite weekend institution: the all you can eat buffet. An app pairs customers with outlets come closing time, allowing them to fill a box with food at knock-down prices. And at Denmark's 103 Q8 service stations staff recycle imperfect pastries into romkugler, or rum balls.

Denmark has more initiatives against food waste in Europe than any other state - from awareness campaigns and partnerships to government subsidies for food waste projects. This is largely thanks to Stop Spild Af Mad - Stop Wasting Food - a lobby group set up by graphic designer Selina Juul.

Juul, 36, is originally from Moscow but moved to Denmark for her mother's work. "Coming from a place where there were food shortages and people queued for bread, I was amazed at how much was wasted in Denmark, so I started a Facebook page." She began offering tips - "little things like encouraging people to make a list before they go to the supermarket or take a picture of the inside of your fridge with your phone, if you have no time."

"I started the page as an angry consumer, but Denmark's a small country, so it's easy to get press coverage and the message spreads. Three months later, the country's biggest low-cost supermarket chain, Rema 1000, agreed to replace all its quantity discounts [like buy two get the third free] with single item discounts to minimise food waste and I was speaking at the EU parliament." That was in 2008. Today, all supermarkets in Denmark have a strategy to reduce food waste.

"Stop Spild Af Mad works because we present solutions, not just problems," says Juul. In 2015, a Gallup survey showed that every second Dane had a UFO, "unidentified frozen object", in their freezer. "So we ran a campaign about having a clearout once a month to eat your UFOs," says Juul. "We also promoted 'Sunday leftover tapas', and the idea that if you're going away, you give your neighbour everything in your fridge - and they do the same for you."

"It's been a great exercise in reframing," says the Danish food blogger Malou Rotvel Pagh, 43. "There used to be a stigma around leftovers but Selina changed that - her legwork resulted in a mental shift. People used to be embarrassed to ask for a doggy bag at a restaurant, as though they were taking home leftovers only good enough to feed the dog. Selina rebranded them as 'goody bags', filled with food you've already paid for - like your groceries - so why wouldn't you bring them home?"

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How did Denmark become a leader in the food waste revolution?

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A six-year-old sniffs asparagus suspiciously as his father grapples with a grapefruit and several women admire a selection of cabbages, in search of a bargain. "Everyone pays 20 kroner (about £2) for a reusable bag to fill with whatever they like," says Bettina Bach, 31, of Bo Welfare, a social housing project in the Danish city of Horsens that runs the food waste pop-up shop.

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Food waste is a huge and costly issue for the world. In France, the problem is not different than elsewhere. According to a from the French Agency for the Environment and Energy (ADEME) , every year 10 million tons of food is either lost or wasted in the country, costing the French 16 billion euros per year. The negative impact on the environment is also shocking. In France, food waste emits 15.3 million tonnes of CO2, which represents 3% of the country's total CO2 emission.

These figures raise great concern, but the good news is that France is currently taking action to reduce its food waste. The French government is extremely active and has created in the past 5 years new laws, regulations and campaigns to encourage both companies and households to reduce their food waste.

Although Denmark is the European Champion in food waste reduction , France could soon be leading the way. Indeed, France has taken numerous initiatives to tackle the issue. What have the French political leaders exactly been doing to drive change? Here are 3 ways France is leading the food waste agenda:

Waste management enforcement

Five years ago the French government started showing strong commitment to tackle the issue of food waste. In 2012, they launched a new law to reduce the amount of organic waste sent to landfill.

Since then, the French Ministry of Ecology, Energy and Sustainable Development has required from the private sector to recycle their organic waste if they produce more than 120 tons of it per year . However, this amount has been lowered gradually to include not just supermarkets and agrifood firms, but also companies in the hospitality and foodservice sector. Failure to comply with the legislation could result in fines of up to €75,0000.

Now, recycling is mandatory for all businesses, including those in the hospitality and foodservice industry, that produce at least 10 tonnes of organic waste per year. It represents roughly 33 kilos per day, which for a restaurant serving 150 meals a day is the equivalent of 50% of all their eateries.

Ban on supermarkets wasting food

Last year, France became the first country in the world to ban supermarkets from throwing away or destroying unsold food . Instead, it forces them to donate surplus food to charities and food banks. According to the French regulation, large supermarkets are no longer allowed to throw away good quality food approaching its "best-before" date.

France's ban on surplus food being thrown away by supermarkets, requires any store larger than 4,305 square feet to sign donation contracts with non-for-profit organizations. Failure to do so could result in fines of up to €75,000, or two years of imprisonment. It makes it easier and faster for the retail industry to give their surplus produce directly to charities and food banks.

Furthermore, all French supermarkets are also banned from destroying food as a way to prevent so-called "dumpster divers" or "freegans" from foraging in garbage bins.

The food waste law, which was adopted unanimously at the French senate, is the result of strong campaigns led by municipal councillor Arash Derambarsh . He has been designated as the person in charge of persuading French MPs to adopt the regulation after a petition collected more than 200,000 signatures in just four months.

Changing consumers' behaviours

Household waste disposal services in France are run by local authorities, and there are different requirements and regulation for each type of waste. Paris has just launched a new biowaste recycling initiative to encourage households to recycle their food waste instead of trashing it.

Over the next 4 months, the French capital authority will distribute 3,200 waste sorting kits containing a seven-litre recycling box and a guide. The initiative will enable 120,000 Paris residents to put their food waste into a biowaste recycling bin. The waste will then be collected and transformed into fertilisers, or upgraded in mechanization plants to convert it into heat and electricity or biofuel for buses. The goal is for the entire capital to have these biowaste collections by 2020.

At Winnow, we believe that food is too valuable to waste, and we are on a mission to reduce food waste in a global level. It might be too soon to evaluate how effective these regulation and campaigns have been. However, it is interesting to see that the French government is taking action to reduce food waste. Should other countries starts creating laws to encourage food waste reduction at a national level? What do you think? We'd love to hear your opinion in the comments below.

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3 ways France is leading the food waste agenda

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Food waste is a huge and costly issue for the world. In France, the problem is not different than elsewhere. According to a from the French Agency for the Environment and Energy (ADEME) , every year 10 million tons of food is either lost or wasted in the country, costing the French 16 billion euros per year.

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on average we all waste 50 kg on edible food per person per year

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A compost bin takes leftover greens and is good for the enviorment

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Composting is the natural breakdown of organic matter to produce a crumbly nutrient-rich soil. The resulting compost can be added to other soil types as a fertilizer, forming an excellent growing medium for plants. By managing this natural process in your own garden, you can dispose of waste, and produce an agent that will improve the look and yield of any plants and flowers. Regardless of the size of your outdoor space, there will be a composting solution to suit your needs.

Theories vary on how to produce the perfect compost, but there are some general rules. Firstly, a suitable container or store is required. Different types and designs are shown here, including homemade, shop-bought, and recycled varieties. As the natural process of composting generates heat, storing compost in a container enables the heat to be retained more easily, and allows for the efficient breakdown of material. It is best to keep a compost heap covered to retain this heat, and to prevent rain from making the compost too wet. While some moisture is needed, it is usually supplied in the form of moist grass cuttings and other green waste.

A system of layering different materials will aid the composting process and enhance the finished product. A layer of coarser, more fibrous material, for example, will introduce air to the center of the heap, which is vital as composting is an aerobic process. However, this may not always be a straightforward task. In the height of summer, for example, the majority of layers are likely to be grass clippings, so it is important to make sure you break up large amounts of one material with other layers-perhaps from the kitchen.

The process of composting takes between two and nine months. You will need to gain access to the base of the heap to take out the crumbly, fully decomposed compost for use on the garden. Some containers have an access hatch at the bottom of the container, while others may need one side to be disassembled so that the bottom level of compost can be dug out.

Purpose-built plastic bins are fitted with a hatch at the bottom for easy access of composted material (image 1). A slatted wooden bin encourages greater air circulation, improving the ventilation of the heap (image 2). A wooden sectioned bin can be disassembled in layers, allowing the heap height to be raised or lowered as required (image 3). As well as looking attractive, a hurdle-style compost bin offers good ventilation. The heap is accessed by removing one side (image 4). A concrete bin may have a block or slatted structure. Unlike its wooden alternatives, it will not rot (image 5). Large recycled containers, such as those used to deliver building materials, make ideal compost bins.

A wormery performs the same task as a compost heap, but on a smaller scale. Worms are kept inside a suitable container, where they eat organic matter; their waste products are then used as a fertilizer. Tiger worms are best for the job, as they live and feed on decomposing compost (unlike common earthworms, which prefer to burrow in soil). You can make your own wormery, or buy a kit that comes with a supply of tiger worms.Composting is the natural breakdown of organic matter to produce a crumbly nutrient-rich soil. The resulting compost can be added to other soil types as a fertilizer, forming an excellent growing medium for plants. By managing this natural process in your own garden, you can dispose of waste, and produce an agent that will improve the look and yield of any plants and flowers. Regardless of the size of your outdoor space, there will be a composting solution to suit your needs.Theories vary on how to produce the perfect compost, but there are some general rules. Firstly, a suitable container or store is required. There are different types and designs, including homemade, shop-bought and recycled varieties. As the natural process of composting generates heat, storing compost in a container enables the heat to be retained more easily, and allows for the efficient breakdown of material. It is best to keep a compost heap covered to retain this heat, and to prevent rain from making the compost too wet. While some moisture is needed, it is usually supplied in the form of moist grass cuttings and other green waste.

Materials That Can Be Composted

The complete list of items that can be composted is extensive, but it can be categorized generally as either brown waste or green waste. Although all organic matter will compost, it is advisable not to compost items that may attract vermin or disease.

Green Waste Items For Composting

As the name suggests, this category includes all types of green leafy garden waste. Other types of fast-rotting waste material is also included in this group. All these items have a high nitrogen content

Fresh grass clippings are a plentiful summer supply and should be layered with other items.

Flowers - stems should be chopped up; don't use diseased plants.

Nettles act as good natural activators.

Vegetable and fruit peelings can be added straight to the heap from the kitchen.

Vegetable crop residue, such as potato and tomato plants.

Young weeds, but avoid perennials.

Herbivore manure, such as from horses, cows and rabbits.

Tea leaves, but tea bags will take longer to break down.

Brown Waste For Composting

This category refers to the slower-rotting items that have a high carbon content.

Dead or fallen leaves - use only small amounts

Shredded paper

Coffee grounds and filter - use only paper filters

Cardboard torn into small pieces

Woody hedge clippings and twigs ideally put through a shredder

Sawdust mixed well with more aerated material

Herbivore bedding, such as hay and straw

Other Items for Composting

There are a number of other items that are not immediately obvious candidates for composting but that are nevertheless suitable.

Egg shells washed and crushed up

Hair - either human or animal hair since both are high in nitrogen

100 percent wool or cotton cut into small pieces or tumble-dryer lint

Vacuum-bag contents, but use common sense as to what has been picked up

Wood ash in small quantities

Although all organic material breaks down, avoid the following as they may attract vermin and harbor potential pathogens:

Meat and fish (cooked and raw) can harbor disease and attract vermin.

Dog and cat feces can harbor disease.

Cat litter will normally contain feces.

Glossy magazines contain too many inorganic chemicals.

Barbecue coals and coal ash contain harmful sulphur oxides.

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How to Compost and the Different Types of Compost Bins

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Composting is the natural breakdown of organic matter to produce a crumbly nutrient-rich soil. The resulting compost can be added to other soil types as a fertilizer, forming an excellent growing medium for plants. By managing this natural process in your own garden, you can dispose of waste, and produce an agent that will improve the look and yield of any plants and flowers.

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Food waste | Technical Platform on the Measurement and Reduction of Food Loss and Waste | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

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Food loss is defined as "the decrease in quantity or quality of food". Food waste is part of food loss and refers to discarding or alternative (non-food) use of food that is safe and nutritious for human consumption along the entire food supply chain, from primary production to end household consumer level.

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FAO - News Article: Food wastage: Key facts and figures

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A low percentage of all food wastage is composted: much of it ends up in landfills, and represents a large part of municipal solid waste. Methane emissions from landfills represents one of the largest sources of GHG emissions from the waste sector.

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Basic conditions that explain the formation of food losses and waste

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5 little wins to save money and reduce food waste | Love Food Hate Waste

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Understanding food dates and what the 'best before' and 'use by' labels really mean is key to making the most of your fridge and freezer. Just by opening the fridge and checking the 'use by' dates on what's inside, you can begin saving money.

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Think.Eat.Save. Reduce Your Footprint Campaign

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The Think.Eat.Save campaign of the Save Food Initiative, is a partnership between UNEP, FAO and Messe Düsseldorf, and in support of the UN Secretary-General's Zero Hunger Challenge, which seeks to add its authority and voice to these efforts in order to galvanize widespread global, regional and national actions, catalyze more sectors of society to be aware and to act, including through exchange of inspiring ideas and projects between those players already involved and new ones that are likely to come on board.

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All actors in the food chain have a role to play in preventing and reducing food waste, from those who produce and process foods (farmers, food manufacturers and processors) to those who make foods available for consumption (hospitality sector, retailers) and ultimately consumers themselves.

The EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste issued a set of key recommendations for action in food waste prevention to inspire and encourage public and private players to take action. The recommendations address action required at each stage of the food supply chain (including food redistribution) and include a set of horizontal or 'cross-cutting' recommendations, which often involve multiple actors and sectors.
Consumers
Everyone can play a role in reducing food waste. Often with minimal effort, food waste can be reduced, saving money and helping to protect the environment. It might be a lot easier than you think! Check our communications materials for tips on how to save food and other practical information.
Industry
Companies which implement food waste reduction initiatives in their daily operations are bound to reap the financial benefits of their actions. After evaluating cost and benefit data for 1,200 business sites across 700 companies in 17 countries, researchers from the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) found that for most companies, for every $1 invested in reducing food waste, they saved $14 or more. The Business Case for Reducing Food Loss and Waste report by WRI and WRAP can be accessed here, as well as other sector-specific business cases ( catering, hotels, restaurants).

In July 2021, the EU Code of Conduct on responsible food business and marketing practices, one of the first concrete deliverables of the Farm to Fork Strategy, entered into force. The Code aims at improving the sustainability performance of business operators 'in the middle' of the food chain (food manufacturers, food service operators and retailers) and includes commitments regarding the prevention and reduction of food loss and waste. The Code is developed by the EU food industry (associations and companies) with active involvement and input from other stakeholders, including international organisations, NGOs, trade unions and trade associations, and in concertation with the European Commission services. More information can be found on its dedicated website.
Governments
Governments should create enabling policy environments that stimulate food waste prevention and reduction initiatives, including economic incentives for application of the waste hierarchy (e.g. fiscal incentives for food donation). Food waste is a cross-cutting issue affecting different policy areas; therefore relevant public services should coordinate efforts and develop integrated action plans in order to tackle food waste effectively. Strengthening collaboration between all actors of the food supply chain is crucial; governments can facilitate such synergies in view of achieving more sustainable food systems.

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All actors in the food chain have a role to play in preventing and reducing food waste, from those who produce and process foods (farmers, food manufacturers and processors) to those who make foods available for consumption (hospitality sector, retailers) and ultimately consumers themselves.

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Italy has made it easier for companies and farmers to donate food to charities and is encouraging greater use of "doggy bags" at restaurants as part of a legislative push to curb the epidemic of food waste.

A law passed in the Senate on Tuesday will help Italy recover 1m tonnes of food a year for the needy, according to the law's chief sponsor, and comes six months after a similar bill was passed in France.

Unlike the French law, however, which penalises supermarkets that fail to abide by new rules forcing them to donate unsold food to charities, the Italian law has instead focused on incentives that make it easier for companies to change their behaviour. It is estimated that Italy wastes about 5.1m tonnes of food a year.

The law, which was passed overwhelmingly in the Senate, has essentially relaxed regulations that made such donations cumbersome. It has clarified that food may still be donated even if it is past its sell-by date, and allows farmers to transfer produce to charities at no extra cost if it has not been sold. The law also opens the door for companies to donate food that has been mislabelled as long as it does not pose a safety risk.

But the move to encourage Italians to use doggy bags to take leftovers home from restaurants is perhaps one of the biggest cultural changes envisioned by the law. In many restaurants, and among many Italians, such requests are rare.

In a statement about the initiative last year, the environment under-secretary Barbara Degani said the introduction of the term "family bag", as it is being called in Italy, represented an upgrade from the use of the words "doggy bag", which in turn would help people free themselves of the notion that it was indecent to request to take home uneaten food. Instead, she said, it ought to be welcomed as virtuous behaviour.

Massimo Bottura, who was recently named the best chef in the world, is one of Italy's most vocal activists on the issue. Last year, during the Milan Expo, he opened an experimental soup kitchen with a Catholic charity that used food that had been left over from the exhibition as part of a campaign to raise awareness about food waste.

It is estimated that about 15 tonnes of food that was heading to rubbish bins ended up feeding the homeless instead. Now, Bottura is bringing the same message to the Olympic Games in Rio, where he is setting up an "anti-waste" kitchen and cafeteria on the Rua da Lapa, with the aim of feeding people who live in Rio's favelas, or slums.

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Italy tackles food waste with law encouraging firms to donate food

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Italy has made it easier for companies and farmers to donate food to charities and is encouraging greater use of "doggy bags" at restaurants as part of a legislative push to curb the epidemic of food waste.

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France bans food waste  by issueing  an appropriate

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France bans food waste  by issueing  an appropriate

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France has become the first country in the world to ban supermarkets from throwing away or destroying unsold food, forcing them instead to donate it to charities and food banks.

Under a law passed unanimously by the French senate, as of Wednesday large shops will no longer bin good quality food approaching its best-before date. Charities will be able to give out millions more free meals each year to people struggling to afford to eat.

The law follows a grassroots campaign in France by shoppers, anti-poverty campaigners and those opposed to food waste. The campaign, which led to a petition, was started by the councillor Arash Derambarsh. In December a bill on the issue passed through the national assembly, having been introduced by the former food industry minister Guillaume Garot.

Campaigners now hope to persuade the EU to adopt similar legislation across member states.

The law has been welcomed by food banks, which will now begin the task of finding the extra volunteers, lorries, warehouse and fridge space to deal with an increase in donations from shops and food companies.

Supermarkets will also be barred from deliberately spoiling food in order to stop it being eaten by people foraging in stores' bins. In recent years, growing numbers of families, students, unemployed and homeless people in France have been foraging in supermarket bins at night to feed themselves. People have been finding edible products thrown out just as their best-before dates approached.

Some supermarkets doused binned food in bleach, reportedly to prevent food poisoning from items taken from bins. Other supermarkets deliberately binned food in locked warehouses for collection by refuse trucks.

Now bosses of supermarkets with a footprint of 400 sq metres (4,305 sq ft) or more will have to sign donation contracts with charities or face a penalty of €3,750 (£2,900).Jacques Bailet, head of Banques Alimentaires, a network of French food banks, described the law as "positive and very important symbolically". He said it would greatly increase an already emerging trend for supermarkets to donate to food banks.

"Most importantly, because supermarkets will be obliged to sign a donation deal with charities, we'll be able to increase the quality and diversity of food we get and distribute," he said. "In terms of nutritional balance, we currently have a deficit of meat and a lack of fruit and vegetables. This will hopefully allow us to push for those products."

Until now French food banks received 100,000 tonnes of donated goods, 35,000 tonnes of which came from supermarkets. Even a 15% increase in food coming from supermarkets would mean 10m more meals being handed out each year, Bailet said.

Food banks and charities will, for their part, be obliged to collect and stock the food in properly hygienic conditions and distribute it with "dignity". This means the food must be given out at a proper food bank or centre, where human contact and conversation is fostered, rather than, for example, simply organised as handoutson the street.

Crucially the law will also make it simpler for the food industry to give some excess products directly to food banks from factories. Until now, if a dairy factory made yoghurts carrying the brand name of a supermarket, it had been a long, complex process to donate any excess to charity. Now it would be faster and easier. "That is very important for food banks because this is a real source of quality products, coming straight from the factory," Bailet said.

Derambarsh, who is a municipal councillor for Courbevoie, about five miles north-west of Paris, said: "The next step is to ask the president, François Hollande, to put pressure on Jean-Claude Juncker and to extend this law to the whole of the EU. This battle is only just beginning. We now have to fight food waste in restaurants, bakeries, school canteens and company canteens."

Carrefour, France's biggest supermarket group, said it welcomed the law, which would build on food donations its supermarkets already made.

France, so far, goes further than the UK, where the government has a voluntary agreement with the grocery and retail sector to cut food and packaging waste in the supply chain and does not have mandatory targets. However, a UK food waste bill, with similar provisions, was introduced to the Commons last September by the Labour MP Kerry McCarthy.

Of the 7.1m tonnes of food wasted in France annually, 67% is binned by consumers, 15% by restaurants and 11% by shops. Each year 1.3bn tonnes of food are wasted worldwide.

A report published in 2015 showed that UK households threw away 7m tonnes of food in 2012, enough to fill London's Wembley stadium nine times over. Avoidable household food waste in the UK is associated with 17m tonnes of CO ₂ emissions annually.

This article was amended on 8 February 2016 to correct the penalty that could be imposed on supermarkets that flout the law. An earlier version gave this as fines of up to €75,000 (£53,000) or two years' imprisonment.

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French law forbids food waste by supermarkets

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Food banks and other charities welcome law making large shops donate unsold food and stop spoiling items to deter foragers