Food Recycling Law
Type of practice Recycle
Name of practice Food Recycling Law
Name of main actor Japanese Government
Type of actor(s) Public authority, Company
Location Japan
Stage of implementation Consumption
Year of implementation 2001
What was/is being done? This Law has come into force in Japan in May 2001 in order to facilitate efforts made by food-related businesses, namely those engaged in manufacturing and distribution of food products, or providing catering and restaurant services, toward recycling food resources. More specifically, the law encourages food-related businesses to restrain or reduce the production of food waste, such as large volumes of unsold or uneaten food waste that occur in food production processes, and to recycle them as raw materials for animal feed and fertilizers.
Outcomes and impacts KAISEI Co. Ltd established an energy plant in 2012 that utilizes food waste and sewage sludge from the local spa in town to produce biogas. Electricity by biogasification is sold to a power company under the Feed-In Tariff Scheme. Residual heat is used for greenhouses to grow tropical fruits. The fluid coming from the bio-digester machine is used for organic fertilizer in rice fields.
