July 24, 2008

Japan food-recycling industry thrives as producers turn to recycled feed

Japan's food-recycling industry is thriving as demand for animal feed made from recycled leftover food is soaring due to high grain prices.

Japan used to dump 20 million tonnes of food waste a year into landfills. However, new legislation implemented since 2001 and recent incentives, along with hefty disposal fees, have given rise to a food recycling industry that turns waste food into animal feed and fertilizer, according to the International Herald Tribune.

In fact, Agri Gaia System, Japan's largest maker of recycled animal feed, was started by a former garbage truck driver who was frustrated with the wastage.

Farmers had been reluctant at first to use recycled animal feed, but ever-rising feed prices have limited their choices: recycled feed costs half the price of normal feeds.

Recycled animal feed is only fed to chickens and pigs and not cattle to prevent mad cow disease. Leftovers are more often taken from convenience stores and restaurants rather than households as they are in better condition and are more easily accessed.

Recycled feed currently accounts for only 1 percent of feedstocks in Japan, or about or 165,000 tonnes, in 2006, twice as much as in 2003. Food industries currently churn out 11 million tonnes of foodwaste a year.