Italy’s Food Waste Legislation Takes A Carrot, Rather Than A Stick, Approach

A legislative proposal to reduce Italy’s food waste – by a billion tons this year alone -- has passed the House and is likely to pass the Senate. The bill follows in the footsteps of a new law in France that makes it compulsory for large grocery stores and supermarkets to donate their unsold edible foods to charitable organizations for redistribution to the needy. The Italian version, however, uses a carrot rather than a stick in securing compliance. It provides large tax breaks for participants. The French law imposes stiff fines for discarding unsold food. A billion tons of food waste in 2016 would be twice the amount recovered in Italy last year.