Japan Government puts a lot of effort into reducing food loss and waste (FLW). The country obligates business operators to reduce FLW by the Act on Food Recycling Act which was enacted in 2011. As of May 2019, the government expects that the reduction of the FLW generation will be promoted at home through the new Act – Edible Food Loss and Waste Reduction Promotion Act.

The government estimates that 6.4 million tons out of 27.6 million tons of food waste is edible. The amount is equivalent to each person in Japan throwing away once rice bowl of food per day, which is twice the annual worldwide food aid distributed to poor countries.

This Act is expected to positively influence customer’s behavior and awareness at the consumption stage. This is the national action of Japan to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Target 12.3 calling for halving per capita food waste by 2030 and reducing food losses along the supply chain.