Reduce food waste? CircuLaw helps with supportive laws and regulations

Worldwide, one third of all food is lost or ends up as waste. This can be changed, but how? CircuLaw translates laws and regulations into practical tools that governments and purchasers can apply directly. Eveline Bakker, legal lead at CircuLaw, talks about the power of legal measures in reducing food waste and promoting circularity.

Where are the biggest opportunities to combat food waste?

“The greatest potential for reducing food waste lies in company catering facilities, such as staff restaurants and canteens. In these types of kitchens, 15 to 25 percent of food is lost every year—a large percentage compared to other links in the chain. Especially at buffets, the numbers are even higher: there, 20 to 50 percent of food is wasted.

The cause is that too much is prepared to offer guests as much choice as possible. Organisations buy in too much, portions are too large, and there is pressure to never have to say ‘no’ to guests. This combination leads to high waste figures. Governments and semi-public organisations can do something about this immediately. You can make great strides by smart purchasing and working closely with caterers and suppliers. You’ll be surprised how quickly you can significantly reduce waste.”

How does CircuLaw tackle food waste?

“Research shows that laws and regulations are often overlooked in circularity, while there are many opportunities there. We map out the full legal action perspective: from steering the physical environment to the procurement practices of governments. We show what is already legally possible and how governments and purchasers can immediately use rules for circular goals.

We translate the instruments into concrete texts: model texts for permits, legal arguments in policy, and circular requirements in tenders. We develop tools with a four-step approach:

1: Mapping existing possibilities

For each theme or product group, we map all legal possibilities (public, private, and fiscal). This reveals where opportunities lie in the legislation and how they fit the bottlenecks for circularity in the chain. We then create a clear menu of all instruments, so other governments can also use them.

2: Making instruments accessible via the platform

Policymakers, project leaders, and purchasers can find all usable instruments on our platform. You can get started right away, without having to wade through complex legislation. Legal content is translated into practical and understandable texts with concrete examples and step-by-step plans.

3: Guiding clients in implementation

We guide clients step by step. We often work with frontrunners and look at which instruments they can deploy immediately and which for the medium or long term. This clarifies what is feasible now, and what can grow later.

4: Combining instruments

You don’t achieve the transition to a circular society with a single measure. We always advise a mix of public, private, and fiscal instruments and encourage cooperation with partners. This way, governments take bigger steps together and make more impact.”

Which legal instruments reduce food waste?

“Together with the municipality of Amsterdam, we examined this topic. We identified 19 instruments. By purchasing consciously, you can make a significant impact on food waste. The public procurement law system provides several instruments that are also useful for organisations not subject to procurement obligations.

In addition, you can specifically address the problem in your tender, in this case food waste. For example, by including an anti-food waste plan as an award criterion. This allows you, as a client, to select how the caterer deals with surplus food or prevents too much food from being produced, both in preparation and in handling unsold food. It’s effective to challenge bidders on this.

A second instrument is award criteria and contract requirements aimed at the protein transition. This encourages bidders to replace part of the animal products with plant-based alternatives. In addition, you have suppliers report on their sustainability performance, such as CO₂ emissions, water use, and kilos of wasted food.”

Can you give an example?

“A good example of a sustainable or circular approach to catering services comes from the municipality of Amersfoort. They awarded contracts based on cooperation on sustainability, CO2 reduction, social return, and chain responsibility. They also asked for measurable results, with food waste as a key KPI. Especially on the first criterion, several bidders surprised the municipality with creative solutions.”

Do you have any tips for purchasers?

“Keep taking steps! Even if the legislation is sometimes unclear. At CircuLaw, we map out the rules for purchasers, and there is also a safety net of knowledge organisations you can turn to. Also important: exchange realistic requirements with each other, so the market can really meet them. This prevents circularity from becoming a barrier and organisations dropping out because it seems complicated.

Try not to get stuck within your own organisation. Many municipalities are already leading the way and have built up experience. Call fellow municipalities, see how they apply criteria, and what overall package they use.

There are also many product- and sector-specific networks offering practical guides, such as in the infrastructure sector. Don’t be overwhelmed by the number of tools. Focus on what is practically applicable and get started right away!”

And looking further ahead, how do you see the future?

“I am optimistic about the future. I hope and expect that attention to circularity in procurement will continue to grow and that we can offer more predictability to the market. It’s important that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time. Take over what works from each other. I focus on that positive trend and notice that the group of circularity supporters is growing. That progress inspires me to keep contributing.”