Abstract
The revised Food Recycling Law urges food businesses to recycle their food residue for compost and other purposes. However, the recycling ratios differ in different business categories. In fact, the ratio for food retailers is still lower than in other categories.
This study focuses on food recycling by a large food retailer and reveals the challenges faced by food retailers in building the “recycling loop,” which is a system of composting the food residues, using the compost in agricultural production, and selling the agricultural products back to the retailer. It was found that success was guaranteed when (1) agricultural cooperatives ensure the quality of compost and (2) the retailer buys the products at higher prices. Moreover, for improved recycling, it is important to establish techniques for the proper handling of compost from various residues and to improve the marketing methods of agricultural products.
