MANILA – A measure reducing wastage by donating and recycling excess edible food hurdled final reading approval at the House of Representatives.
During Monday’s plenary session, a total of 221 lawmakers voted in favor of House Bill 7956 or the proposed Food Surplus Reduction Act. No lawmaker voted against the bill and no one abstained from voting.
The bill mandates the implementation of a National Zero-Food Waste Campaign to raise awareness on the impact of food surplus and strategies to decrease wasted food at food-related businesses and at the household level.
It seeks to establish the linkages between food businesses, food banks, and local government units to create a community-based food distribution system for the food-insecure.
Guidelines and standards shall be provided for the collection, storage, and distribution of edible food donated to food banks.
A self-sufficiency program shall be created that will provide skills training in managing food banks and livelihood programs to avoid the dependence on donations solely.
Local government units shall be required to enter into contracts with waste management and recycling enterprises to recycle inedible food waste into fertilizers or compost.
Penalties shall be imposed for selling food donations and causing edible food surplus to be unfit for human consumption.