Taiwan will roll out a new nationwide food waste reduction campaign this year, starting with large-scale programmes in schools, as authorities seek to establish a baseline for food loss and shift policy towards prevention at source.
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The island’s environment minister Peng Chi-ming said Taiwan produces more than 2,000 tonnes of food waste daily, with school meal services accounting for roughly a quarter of the total. About one-third of food prepared in campus catering systems is ultimately discarded.
The initiative, called the “Taiwan New Food Saving Movement”, will begin with joint projects with the education ministry aimed at cutting waste in school catering systems. Peng said a draft plan has secured cross-ministerial consensus and is expected to be formally released by the end of February.
Government data showed Taiwan generated an average of 2,115 tonnes of kitchen waste per day in 2025. However, current statistics capture only waste at the disposal stage and do not account for food losses across the production, processing, distribution and consumption stages.
Peng said Taiwan still needs to establish a clear national baseline for food waste. The European Union has set a target to reduce per capita food waste by 30 per cent by 2030 compared with 2020 levels, but Taiwan has yet to determine its comparable reference point.
The new campaign will prioritise reducing waste at the source rather than focusing mainly on end-of-pipe waste treatment, Peng added.
“We will measure food waste starting from the source and develop reduction measures accordingly. This will be different from previous food-saving campaigns,” he said, adding that detailed measures are still being discussed across ministries because of overlapping responsibilities.
Officials said Taiwan plans to reference the European Union’s Food Use for Social Innovation by Optimising Waste Prevention Strategies (FUSIONS) framework, which tracks food waste across five stages from farm to household.
The five stages cover primary production, processing and manufacturing, wholesale and retail distribution, food service including restaurants, schools and catering systems, and finally household consumption and disposal.
Chen Chun-jung, a senior official in charge of circular processing policy, said Taiwan will study whether the EU methodology can be directly applied domestically. Any future measurement system must be compatible with existing local programmes.
Taiwan’s economic ministry already works with food processors to reduce waste during manufacturing, while the agriculture ministry has introduced controls to reduce losses during fruit and vegetable transportation through wholesale markets, Chen added.
The move came after the island announced in December that it will ban the use of food waste as pig feed nationwide from 2027.
Under a transition plan, only business-generated food waste will be temporarily allowed for pig feed for one year from January 2026. Household food waste will be barred immediately from the practice.
Taiwan’s shift away from food-waste pig feeding accelerated after an African swine fever (ASF) outbreak was confirmed in October 2025 at a pig farm in Taichung, prompting an emergency nationwide ban on food-waste feeding.
Although the exact source of the infection is still being investigated, agricultural authorities repeatedly warned that mixed household food waste, which often contains meat, fish and unidentifiable scraps, poses a significant biosecurity risk if not sterilised thoroughly.
