France has made it illegal for supermarkets to destroy unsold food products and instead requires them to sign contracts with a food waste charity to facilitate donations.
The news comes after the country’s parliament voted unanimously to pass the new law, and is part of France’s ongoing pledge to cut its food waste in half by 2025, the Guardian reported.
Under the new legislation, supermarkets will have to take measures to prevent food waste and will be forced to donate any unsold but still edible food to charity, as animal feed or for use as farming compost.
A group of French MPs first drafted the law last summer, as they wanted to see the practice of supernarkets donating food to charities “enshrined in law”. They said they were targeting large food chains as their “logistics and important stock” made it easier for them to organise such donations than smaller shops.
“It’s scandalous to see bleach being poured into supermarket dustbins along with edible foods,” said Socialist member of parliament Guillaume Garot.
