Abstract
This paper examines the problems of returned goods practice in Japan’s food supply chain (FSC), and the “doggy bag,” the takeaway packet a customer asks for when food is leftover from a restaurant meal, which accounts for two-thirds the amount of food loss and waste (FLW) in the Japanese food service industry. The paper aims to clarify the actual situation regarding measures to promote behavior changes that may appropriate risk-sharing action. In other countries, legislation on the suppression of FLW is being used to prompt the government to examine the issue and put concrete measures in place. In many cases, however, long before the law came into force, measures to create change were voluntarily sought out, and legislation simple provided support to this.
In Japan, the Food Recycling Law was enforced in 2001 and this carries stronger penalties when compared to other countries. Because the target was limited to only the food industry, the agricultural sector was unfortunately excluded. The Food Loss Reduction Promotion Law that was enforced in 2019 is expected to have the positive effect of complementing areas not covered by the Food Recycling Law and promoting risk-sharing as soft law.
