EN Locations Search go to store ... Menu #IMAGINE THE FUTURE The secrets of a world without food waste… November 29th 2019 By Julien Marival 4 min Consumers, producers, retailers… we all have the power to reduce our waste and to recycle it more effectively. The zero-waste goal is not a utopian dream. The proof is that consumers and even supermarkets have succeeded in achieving it! Which solutions actually work? A mountain of 10 million tonnes of still-edible foodstuffs piled high. That's the terrifying image of food waste in France every year. And yet, France is leading the way among the G20 countries in tackling food waste, according to the Food and Sustainability Index, as calculated by UK magazine The Economist. “In a world in which a third of all food produced is either wasted or thrown away according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), France is a forerunner with its policies to reduce wastage, thanks in particular to the legislation it has brought in requiring supermarkets to redistribute unsold stock among charities" The Economist. Delicious circular economy… Items that cannot be donated or recovered by charities can also be given to companies which can then use them to create environmentally-friendly products. Sandrine Saveurs, a small business based in the Eure-et-Loir département, makes jams from overripe or damaged fruit that it collects from hypermarkets in the Ile-de-France region, for example. And the Brasserie de la Loire, near Saint-Etienne, picks up unsold stock from a neighbouring bakery in order to make a delicious craft beer from dry bread. Unsold stock can also be recycled and processed directly in supermarkets and hypermarkets. This is what happens with croissants and pains au chocolat which are given a second life on store shelves with almonds. Facilities for recovering and recycling Passed in 2016, France's legislation to tackle food wastage (or the Garot law, named after its author, French MP Guillaume Garot) prohibits food retailers larger than 400 m² from throwing away their still-edible unsold stock – although in actual fact, many had already adopted such practices. In accordance with the law, such foodstuffs must be donated to any charities which ask for them or, where relevant, recycled using available facilities, such as those which use methanisation to convert bio-waste into compost or gas "Some edible foodstuffs cannot legally be donated to charities", says Frédéric Portos, head of the anti-waste initiative for Carrefour hypermarkets. These include minced beef, seafood products and cream cakes. Steaks and fish can be given to neighbouring kennels and zoos. For cream cakes, it's more complicated!” Is it (still) edible? But for retailers such as Carrefour, the best way of tackling food waste is to more effectively manage stock and sell foodstuffs that are nearing their expiry dates, or getting close to when they taste the best by adopting an attractive markdown policy (knock-down prices, surprise baskets with the Too Good to Go charity, etc.). These short-expiry-date products need to be managed differently, however, depending on whether they are fresh produce or otherwise. The former (meat, fish, cooked meats, refrigerated ready meals, yoghurts, etc.) have "use-by dates", after which they may not be sold in stores. The others (dry cakes, tinned food, fizzy drinks, chocolate, etc.) are given "minimum durability dates", and feature the wording "best before…". Contrary to what some people think, these products are not unfit for human consumption after their minimum durability dates. This is just a date after which the product may gradually start to lose some of its nutritional qualities and taste. Minimum durability, use-by, best-before: QED! Use-by date: date after which a product may no longer be sold in store. Minimum durability: the date after which the product may gradually start to lose some of its nutritional qualities and taste. Best before: best before date. This is the former term for “minimum durability”, the wording which replaced the best-before date in 2015. more clarity, less waste People having a poor understanding of minimum durability dates is responsible for 20% of all food wastage! Even though these products can be consumed and even legally sold after these dates. Carrefour is militating with anti-waste charities – such as Too Good to Go – to clarify the concept of food durability and replace "to be consumed preferably by…" with simpler wording such as "best before…". Some foodstuffs that can be kept for a long time – such as sugar, salt and certain confectionery – can even do without minimum durability dates and the European Union is now actually authorising brands to do away with expiry dates on these products. Many fresh products are also unjustly discarded. For yoghurts, for example, it is completely possible to extend their use-by dates without making any changes to the recipe or affecting their qualities… Zero waste: a goal reached by several Carrefour stores! When all the conditions are right, supermarkets themselves can reach the goal of having all of the waste they produce recycled – the Holy Grail of anti-wastage. Carrefour stores such as the Argentan Market in Normandy and the Chambéry hypermarket in Savoie have succeeded in throwing practically nothing away thanks to charities and local recycling facilities. Large-scale initiatives have also appeared on a neighbourhood-wide level, such as in Paris' tenth arrondissement, and in towns such as Roubaix in northern France. France might not be quite ready to lose its anti-wastage champion status yet. 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