Donating leftover food? The municipality will reduce your waste tax by up to 50 percent.

Milan is the first major Italian city to implement this regulation. The discount applies to the entire retail network, from small shops to supermarkets. Over 10 stores are affected. And the Tari reduction ranges from 20 to 50 percent.

di |
Tax discount for venues that fight food waste

Tax discount for businesses fighting food waste

Our motto has always been this: less waste, less tax. Less waste, less taxes, for both citizens and businesses. And finally, municipal administrations are moving in this direction, thanks to a national law which, although with many flaws, introduced this possibility for municipalities.

ALSO READ: Everything you need to know about food waste in this book

THE LAW FOR THE DONATION OF SURPLUS FOOD

The law is that for reduce the food waste (Gadda law, from the name of the first signatory) and promote the donation of surplus food, especially from the network of small retail stores and large-scale retailers. Thus, in several municipalities (the first was San Stino di Livenza in the province of Venice), stores that organize to collect leftover food have seen their waste tax (TARI) cut by 20 percent.

Tax discount for establishments that don't waste food

The news now concerns Milan, the first major Italian city to apply this part of the Gadda law. Just think: a basin of 10 thousand commercial establishments, including shops, restaurants, bars, supermarkets and market stalls, with a potential cut of between 20 and 50 percent of the Tari, of 1,8 million euros.

TO KNOW MORE: Local markets: have you noticed how much food is wasted? And how much paper and cardboard? (Photos and video)

TAX DISCOUNT BENEFITS FOR ANTI-WASTE PREMISES

The mechanism has at least three advantages, and they apply to everyone. The first, as we have always said, is that in this way, through targeted incentives, the objective of reduce the waste, and thus streamline the entire waste disposal chain. That leftover and wasted food, in fact, sooner or later, if no one collects it, becomes garbage. And therefore a cost and another waste.

Secondly, by combining the commercial network with the voluntary network, a good a breath of fresh air for associations Those who work on the front lines of poverty. They are the ones who assist the elderly, the unemployed, and immigrants: all people in need of a meal. And they are the ones who regularly find themselves without money due to the usual cuts in government funding.

Finally, third advantage, by encouraging what in jargon are called "good practices" we will be able to see a concrete reduction of food waste also in the commercial network. Where it reaches truly scandalous levels. A third of the bread on the market, for example, ends up in the bin at the end of the day, when it is completely wrongly considered inedible. And even in local markets, every day the devastation of enormous quantities of food ends up in garbage cansFood that is missing from the soup kitchen.

ASSOCIATIONS AND VOLUNTEERS WHO FIGHT FOOD WASTE:

 

Want to see a selection of our news?

Don't Waste