Ending throw away culture
Second time lucky for food waste law?
THE DRAFT of a law designed to prevent food waste has been approved by the Cabinet.
The coalition led by PM Pedro Sánchez had attempted to pass the legislation at the end of the last legislature but ran out of time.
It is named the ‘Ley de Prevención de las Pérdidas y el Desperdicio Alimentario’ (law to prevent the waste and throwing away of food).
Minister for agriculture, fishing and food, Luis Planas reminded that the legislation had started its passage through Parliament last year but ‘fell’ with the dissolution of the two chambers. The government has taken up the project again as soon as possible ‘due to the importance of this matter’.
“If I had to sum up the content of this law, then it would be ‘here, we throw nothing away’,” he said.
The minister said it was ‘absolutely imperative’ to get the legislation on the statute books.
It is based on ‘four pillars’ – having an efficient economy; not wasting natural resources; social justice; and ‘ethics’.
“We live on a planet where almost 800 million people suffer from hunger or malnutrition,” he said.
Sr Planas quoted figures from the United Nations which revealed that around 30% of the food produced in the world is thrown away.
In Spain, more than one billion kilos of food were dumped in 2022, which was an average of 65.5 kilos per adult.
The minister explained that the law is designed to ensure that food is eaten – and if it isn’t then it should be used for soups or jams; animal feed; or to obtain compost or biofuel.
Excess food will ‘have to be donated’ by the production and distribution sectors, meaning it can’t be thrown away, he noted.
Supermarkets and food stores which occupy a surface area greater than 1,300 square metres will have to have an agreement in place with local food banks or NGOs ‘to donate food which can still be used’.
And restaurants will have to offer customers the possibility of taking away food that they have not eaten.
While the law establishes ‘rights and obligations, it ‘above all aims to inform and prevent waste’.
They will run public information campaigns such as a previous one which operated under the title ‘the most costly item of food is the one that ends up in the bin’.
It will also promote kilometre-zero produce and encourage people to buy seasonal fruit and vegetables. Sr Planas said they will seek ‘as much support as possible’ from other political parties as the law passes through parliament.