Hands up who has a food waste program where they are? Is it local or national government run? How does it work for you? We would love to know! Project drawdown highlights the reduction of food waste as one of our top impactful actions to reduce global heating and this one is something us individuals contribute a great deal too (in addition to farm through supermarket waste). Food waste programs are still pretty rare around the world and we should be having them everywhere – particularly in cities and suburban areas. There are a number that work with different methods though – do you have one?_
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_South Korea has been a shining example of a well run program. The South Korean government banned sending food to landfills in 2005 and, in 2013, also prohibited the dumping of garbage juice (leftover water squeezed from food waste) into the sea. Today, 95% of food waste is recycled _ up from less than 2% in 1995._
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Seoul alone managed to cut the amount of food waste produced by 400 metric tons per year._
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_ Those who live in the city head out each evening to deposit small yellow bags into waste collection buckets. Since 2013, South Koreans have been required by law to discard food waste in these biodegradable bags which are priced according to volume. It costs the average four-person family about $6 a month. By purchasing them from the local convenience store or supermarket, residents are effectively paying a tax on their food waste upfront._
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_In Seoul, this tax pays for roughly 60% of the cost of collecting and processing the city’s food waste, according to government data. Not only does it offer incentives for you to reduce waste, it makes you manage it yourself which is what we need to do with our food waste._
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__ If your town doesn’t have one, have you approached a local politician to see what needs to happen for one to be implemented? We’ve had some interesting answers ourselves (read: some hilarious excuses) when pushing for it!
