Legal Regulations and Methods Neutralising Expired Food Products

In retail chains, an expired product is withdrawn from sales and becomes waste which should be managed properly. Expired products cannot be placed back on the market for sale, sold at a reduced price or in promotion. The losses in the food trade result mainly from an inefficient organisation and excessive stocks that cause food expiration and perishability. In this chain, the expired food products, which in majority go to landfill sites, constitute a significant part. This article presents the legal regulations regarding neutralisation of expired food products together with their utilisation possibilities. One of the basic documents is the Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources. The second important document is the Directive of the Council 1999/31/EC on the landfill of waste. According to the Regulation No 852/2004 of 29 April 2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, every facility should have elaborated procedures describing the manner of handling foodstuffs not meeting the requirements of health quality as well as food waste. One of the most often applied methods to manage waste is its thermal treatment. Incineration is problematic in environmental and social aspects. It includes numerous requirements and legal restrictions. Pyrolysis is an alternative to incineration. Composting in aerated bed is a widely known utilisation method of biological waste from agriculture and agri-food industry. Mineralisation of organic substances in biogas plants is a method for controlled course of processes aiming at the production of greenhouse gases, the negative effect on meteorological conditions of which is unquestionable in many social circles. Biomass fermentation in biogas plants is prospective because it enables to limit the emission of methane during uncontrolled biochemical processes accompanying landfill of waste.