The reason why it's illegal to throw away edible food in France is to tackle both food insecurity and environmental food waste.
It's illegal in France for large supermarkets that measure over 400 square meters to throw away any unsold food that is still edible, which is done to tackle and prevent both food insecurity and environmental waste.
The law on throwing edible food away in France forces these corporations and supermarkets in France to donate any surplus edible food items to food banks and charities, instead of throwing them away and sending them to landfills.
Before the legislation in France passed in 2016, on banning the throwing away of edible food, millions of tons of food that was perfectly safe and edible were trashed and sent to landfills, while thousands of people and households struggle to afford food and depend on food aid.
Also some stores also ruin discarded food intentionally like pouring bleach on dumpster bound food to avoid legal liability or prevent people from dumpster diving.
This law also explicitly bans this practice.
And the decomposing organic waste in landfills from food also generates methane.
So forcing the redistribution of food also cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions and landfill usage.
The way the law works on throwing away edible food in France involves.
Mandatory donations, where qualifying large grocery stores are required by the law to sign official contracts with local charities and NGOs to redistribute their surplus food inventory.
And if a supermarket in France does not comply with the law on throwing away edible food and donating the food, they can face severe consequences including fines up to €3,750 (and potentially up to €75,000 for repeated or extreme negligence).
But if the food is no longer safe for human consumption, stores are also required in France to redirect the food for other purposes like animal feed or compost, instead of simply discarding the food in the trash.