INTERNATIONAL NEWS

TOKYO -- Restaurant and retail store operators are increasing their efforts to reduce or recycle 20 percent of their garbage by April 1, 2007.

The Food Recycling Law enforced in 2001 requires operators of such businesses to reduce or recycle 20 percent of their annual food waste by the end of fiscal 2006.

A report in The Daily Yomiuri notes that as the beginning of the target year is just around the corner, restaurants and convenience stores are trying to reduce the amount of waste generated by unsold "bento" boxed meals and delicatessen items as much as possible, such as by composting the foodstuffs.

How to reduce the number of expired bento and other perishable food and drinks is a challenge for convenience stores.

At Lawson Inc.'s convenience stores, employees check the sales of such foods using a handheld barcode scanner. Based on the data recorded, the employees fix the number of orders for food and drink items three times a day. Fresh items are delivered a few hours after the orders are sent.

The sales of each item differs depending on the day.

"Many expired items create more waste, but if we reduce the amount of orders, we might end up out of stock, which would mean we would lose the chance to sell," said Fumiko Mimura at a Lawson store in Nishi Kasai, Tokyo.

To prevent this, she said it was important to check the sales of items and make orders by anticipating sales patterns.

Meanwhile, 7-Eleven Japan Co. has extended the hours it keeps foodstuffs on its stores' shelves so as to reduce the amount of food that goes to waste.

It used to pull bento from the shelves between two and eight hours before their eat-by time. But since June, the company has been removing the bento a uniform two hours before the eat-by date expires.

"We found that they [bento] can stay fresh longer, and [keeping them on the shelves for longer] is helping reduce waste," said Hidekazu Yamaguchi of the firm's environment protection section.

The company also offers foods whose eat-by date is approaching for free tasting.

Expired foodstuffs are collected by a company to be composted in a factory.

The company's stores in Kyoto and Aichi prefectures have recycled expired items as pig swill, which sells at a higher price than compost.

The company aims to include 4,000 stores, or 40 percent of its total outlets, in its garbage-collecting network and increase the recycling ratio to more than 30 percent.