'Act on amending certain laws on energy and waste management' (provisions on the obligation to reduce food waste)

Published on January 25, 2021

One of the purposes of the above mentioned Act on amending certain laws on energy and waste management is to transpose the directive (EU) 2018/851 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending Directive 2008/98/EC on waste. The § 11 of the Act complements the Act CLXXXV of 2012 on Waste with the requirements aiming waste prevention: Section (9) point g) stipulates as a waste prevention requirement that the amount of food waste generated in primary production, processing and manufacturing, food retailing and distribution, restaurants and food supply, and households as a contribution to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals; reduction in such a way that by 2030, per capita food waste at retail and consumer level, and food losses along production and supply chains decrease. The Directive (EU) 2018/851 in its preamble (31) indicates that the 'Member States should take measures to promote prevention and reduction of food waste in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on 25 September 2015, and in particular its target of halving per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses, by 2030.' Art 9. paragraph (1) of the Directive states that Member States shall take measures to prevent waste generation. Those measures shall, at least: 'g) reduce the generation of food waste in primary production, in processing and manufacturing, in retail and other distribution of food, in restaurants and food services as well as in households as a contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal to reduce by 50 % the per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and to reduce food losses along production and supply chains by 2030.'

Hungary is committed to significantly reducing the amount of food waste at each level of the food chain. The prevention and reduction of food waste can be started on a voluntary basis, with the cooperation of governmental, civil and business actors and by changing consumer habits, so attitudes in this area can play a key role. We consider it important to maintain the motivation of the actors with positive incentives and possibly to further increase voluntary and cooperative activities. With our planned measures we aim to create a waste management infrastructure which ensures the effective use of state resources and the growth of the competitiveness, which can be advantageous for all the actors in the sector. We create our measurements and projects with an integrated approach of the environment and economy so as to multiply the performances efficiency.

For the industrial sector, sustainable production and consumption means achieving a state in which the level of energy and material consumption is optimal, the level of waste and other pollution is minimal, and all (by-products) – economically viable – play a role in production processes. In addition to the circular approach, the cooperation and interconnection of industrial actors along the value chain is essential for this. Waste management goals and measures are linked to several of the Sustainable Development Goals as indicators, including the "Development of Sustainable Consumption and Production Methods" goals.