By supermarkets, that is. Timothy Baster and Isabelle Merminod on the progress of a much-lauded French law.
The French law against food waste – a world first – came into effect on 11 February 2016 and was greeted with acclaim by the international press. The law forbids supermarkets to destroy or throw away products approaching their sell-by date. If the food cannot be donated, it goes for animal feed or is composted to produce methane fuel.
Before the law was enacted, some supermarkets had been sprinkling liquid bleach on food to stop people rummaging through their waste bins.
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