Among the various recycling bills to be submitted to the current Diet session, the Food Waste Recycling Law, scheduled to go into effect in 2002, is expected to provide a strong incentive for environmental businesses.

Among the various recycling bills to be submitted to the current Diet session, the Food Waste Recycling Law, scheduled to go into effect in 2002, is expected to provide a strong incentive for environmental businesses.
The law will cover food waste, including food scraps, leftover food, and unsold food from about 3,000 companies, including food manufacturers, supermarkets, department stores, restaurants, and hotels.
The law requires that the 19 million tons of food waste generated annually be reprocessed into fertilizers and animal feed.
Of this amount, 3 million tons of food waste generated by food manufacturers has a relatively high recycling rate of 48%, while 6 million tons generated by other businesses have a recycling rate of less than 1%.
The law will boost the recycling rate of compost and feed to 50% for the former and 10~20% for the latter.
The main goal of the law is to commercialize compost and feed rather than to reduce the volume of food waste and prevent dioxins generated during incineration.
The promotion of the use of organic fertilizers under the Sustainable Agriculture Law, which went into effect in 1999, has provided a tailwind for recycled compost, and there is also a background of trying to curb imports.
In response to the law, compost and feed processing centers (intermediate processing facilities) are being established at an accelerated pace in various regions.
This is a great business opportunity for waste collectors, recyclers, and related equipment and plant manufacturers in partnership with waste emitters.
Incidentally, the business value of livestock feed is much higher than that of compost, which has issues such as pre-processing, maturation period, and unstable demand.
▼ It may be hard to say, but the country's food self-sufficiency is 15 million tons.
19 million tons are thrown away in food waste.
Herein lies the biggest problem.
As of 2022, Japan's food waste rate is estimated to be about 6.15 million tons per year, or about 487 kg per person per year.
This includes waste from ordinary households and restaurants, making the reduction of food loss still an important social issue.