How to count food waste?

The 24th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress conducted group deliberations on the draft anti-food waste law and the research report on cherishing food and opposing waste on the 24th

Participants had heated discussions on the definition of food waste, the collection of food waste disposal fees, and official catering waste

Topic 1: How to identify food waste standards?

What is food waste? The draft stipulates that food waste refers to the failure to use food that is safe to eat or drink in accordance with its functional purpose

Committee member Wei Xiaochun stated that the draft’s definition of food waste is more principled, and it is recommended to amend it to: “Food waste referred to in this law refers to not cherishing, unreasonable use, or unnecessary waste of edible foods, which will be given to the state, Behaviors that cause losses to society, units, families, or individuals

Member Ouyang Changqiong also believes that the draft definition of food waste is too general

Topic 2: Should customers charge for food waste disposal when ordering food waste?

Another major focus of the draft is to clarify that catering service providers can charge consumers who cause obvious waste to deal with food waste

Commissioner Zheng Shuna stated that collecting food waste disposal fees from customers who order wasteful food is faced with issues such as how to identify waste and how to determine the amount of charges.

Committee members Bao Xinhe stated that many restaurants have stipulated the minimum amount of box fee.

Long Xiang, director of the Standing Committee of the Nanjing Municipal People's Congress who attended the meeting, suggested that the waste classification should be combined with the promotion and improvement of the food waste recycling system, and the method of measuring and recycling food waste should be tried to increase the cost of terminal food waste and curb food waste

Topic 3: How to curb the waste of official catering consumption?

The survey report shows that business banquets, public money consumption, school cafeteria meals, etc.

Member Li Peilin said that the draft proposes that a standardized diet should be implemented for meals during official events, but the definition of "standardization" is not clear, and it is recommended to amend it to "standardized diet with fixed person, fixed food, and fixed price

Liu Zhengkui, a member of the Finance and Economic Committee of the National People's Congress who attended the meeting, suggested that the law should clarify the role of public officials in the fight against food waste, and supervise, report and deal with public officials' food waste behavior

Committee member Jiang Xiaojuan said that it is recommended to add a provision to clarify that the dining arrangements should be strictly implemented in accordance with relevant regulations when undertaking and undertaking office reception activities in various places

Topic 4: How to mobilize the enthusiasm of all parties to save food?

The research report pointed out that to solve the problem of food waste requires the joint attention of relevant stakeholders, take practical measures, and gradually establish and practice green consumption patterns and lifestyles

Member Tan Yaozong said that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has introduced measures to encourage businesses to reduce food waste and commends businesses that have implemented the reduction of food waste

Member Liu Haixing also suggested to further study and improve the reward and punishment mechanism, and adopt a combination of reward and mandatory regulations to commend and reward units or individuals that have made obvious contributions to saving food.

"It is the fine tradition of the Chinese nation to be thrifty and oppose extravagance and waste.
It has a profound social and cultural soil.
Food waste is to a large extent a bad consumption mentality
.
" Committee member Xiao Huaiyuan said.
The whole society has formed the habit and psychology of saving glory and wastefulness, especially to let young people pass on this fine tradition
.

(Xinhua News Agency reporters Bai Yang and Ren Qinqin)