Retail giant, Aeon Co, has announced that they will begin selling pork from pigs raised on feed made by recycling unsold vegetables and other foods.
Starting in June, the firm will sell the pork at a total of 55 Jusco and Maxvalu outlets in Tokyo and four nearby prefectures in the Kanto eastern Japan region.
Prices The meat will be priced at about 130 yen per 100 grams, roughly the same as prices of domestic pork available at present. Aeon also plans to sell the pork in such prefectures as Miyagi, Mie and Aichi in the future as it aims to establish a nationwide food recycling system.
Initially, Aeon will collect unsold foods from 25 outlets in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, in cooperation with a recycling company in the prefecture, Aeon officials said.
Costs The company is aiming to raise the proportion of recycled foods to 45 pct by fiscal 2012 from 32.6 pct in fiscal 2007. Japanese retailers are required to achieve a food recycling rate of 45 pct or higher by fiscal 2012 under the revised food recycling law that took effect last December. Costs for recycling waste foods are twice as much as those for incinerating them at present.