Performance of the Food Waste Recycling Law in Japan with Reference to SDG 12.3

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Title: Achievement of Food Waste Recycling Law in Japan with reference to SDG12.3

Dear Author(s) thank you for this opportunity. I enjoyed reading your paper. Here are my comments:

1.     Abstract:

·       The abstract effectively outlines the core content of the article, discussing the historical progression of Japan’s 23-year policy and the tension arising from the coexistence of two legislative approaches.

·       To strengthen the abstract for potential, consider incorporating specific achievements or challenges encountered while implementing these laws. Statistical data and insights gathered from interviews with Ministry officers can be valuable additions to substantiate the analysis and conclusions presented in the paper.

·       The abstract could benefit from a clearer methodology for gathering data and conducting interviews to ensure transparency and credibility in the research approach.

2.     Introduction:

·       The introduction presents a comprehensive overview of Japan’s approach to tackling food waste, effectively sets the stage by linking the global concern outlined in SDG to Japan’s specific food waste strategy, and clearly distinguishes between the Food Loss Reduction Promotion Act and the earlier Food Waste Law.

·       To strengthen the introduction further, consider focusing on a more concise explanation of the legislative differences and their impact on SDG implementation.

3.     Material and method:

·       The literature review provided in this section seems to be more methodological, focusing on the sources and processes used to gather and analyze data rather than explicitly reviewing existing scholarly works or literature related to the topic.

·       It could benefit from a more expansive review of the existing literature on food waste management in Japan. Incorporating a summary or discussion of previous studies, policies, or scholarly works related to food waste, recycling laws, and their impact on sustainability could provide context and support for the study’s methodology and objectives.

·       While the methodological approach is detailed, expanding on the specific data collection methods or analytical techniques employed to interpret the MAFF data could further enhance the clarity and transparency of the research process.

4.     Results and discussion:

·       3.1: This section comprehensively evaluates Japan’s food and feed supply dynamics, highlighting the challenges and targets set by the government while emphasizing the necessity for increased domestic production to achieve food self-sufficiency goals. To strengthen this section further, the discussion could explore potential strategies or policy interventions that Japan might consider increasing domestic feed production.

·       3.2: Overall, this section presents a detailed and insightful analysis of food waste recycling under Japan’s Food Waste Recycling Law, offering a comprehensive understanding of legislative changes, challenges, and trends in waste management practices across sectors. However, it might benefit from a more explicit discussion on potential solutions or strategies to overcome the challenges identified in food waste management.

·       3.3: This section effectively outlines the goals and targets of the Food Loss Reduction Promotion Act, assesses the estimation methodology for avoidable food waste, and proposes actionable strategies for further reduction. It establishes a strong foundation for understanding Japan’s goals in reducing food waste and highlights potential avenues for improvement. While proposing strategies for reducing avoidable food waste, providing a discussion or acknowledgment of potential challenges or barriers to implementing these strategies could further enrich the discussion. It would provide a more holistic view of the feasibility and challenges of implementing these proposed measures.

5.     Conclusions:

·       The conclusion effectively summarizes key points, identifies challenges, and proposes practical strategies to achieve food waste reduction goals in Japan, offering a well-rounded perspective on these critical issues. To enhance this conclusion, providing more specific examples or case studies of successful waste reduction initiatives in other countries or industries could offer practical insights into potential strategies for Japan.

 

·       Outlining potential challenges in implementing the proposed measures and suggesting strategies to overcome these hurdles could further enrich the discussion.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Abstract:

 

1. The research problem needs to be explained more explicitly. What research problem this study is trying to solve?

  Introduction:

2. The Chinese characters do not need to be typed here. The Shokuhin Rosu is sufficient and can be written in italic to indicate that this is a foreign language. 
3. The history and events described can be shown in a graphical timeline so that it would be easier for the reader to follow. 
4. Purpose of the study: Similar to the abstract, this part needs a clear statement about the research problem. Readers may get a hint of issues or guess from reading this paragraph (maybe there is a problem in the discrepancy between the two mentioned laws? maybe the history of Japan’s recycling policy is not widely known?), but they can only guess under the present style of expression. Direct and clear expression of research problem is encouraged in this paragraph. 

Method:

5. Line 108: reference needed. Is this data open access? If yes, readers need to know the location of the data. If not, please explain further how this data can be obtained. 
6. 2.2. Interview with MAFF: how many officers were interviewed? when did the interview took place? where? what was the duration of the interview? how many times were the email correspondence took place, and between which date to which date? 

Conclusion:

7. Line 438: "We suggest that incineration of food waste, currently the most common method of disposing of municipal solid waste in Japan, be ultimately reduced. “ —> I agree with this recommendation but I suggest improving this sentence to "...ultimately avoided” instead of just “reduced". Food wastes contain a large amount of water. Incinerating it is just ridiculous in terms of energy balance. 

  Discussion:

8. Some discussions about how Japan compares with other countries is required. At the present form it is too Japan-centric without any guidance on how the status relate to other countries. Is it better? Is it leading? Is it average? is it behind?Some figures for comparison with other countries with similar socio-economic attributes would be helpful.  

   

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The paper needs the following improvements:

 The TITLE does not fit with the paper content. Therefore, we suggest to change the title in the consensus with the content.

The critical dialog with literature should be improved, and we suggest the authors add some references to justify the paper's relevance for the scientists and practitioners.

The methodology is not indicated in the paper.

 There are so many – 13 figures, and they are not explained.

A rewrite is advised to improve clarity. One way to do this is to move the explanations of what is shown in the Figures and place them before the figures. The explanations need to tell a story about the critical findings in each figure, rather than just repeating what is shown, and include the researchers' interpretation. It would also help to reduce the number of figures.

The sources of the figures should be clearly indicated, especially for the following figures:

Figure 2. Domestic production, imports, and supply for feed in Japan (source: food balance sheets)

Figure 5. Amount of food waste by type of recycling

Figure 6. Amount of Food Waste in Food Manufacturing by Type of Recycling

Figure 7. Amount of Feed Recycling by Sector

Figure 8. Amount of Food Waste in Food Manufacturing by Type of Recycling

Figure 9. Amount of Food Waste in Food Service by Type of Recycling

Figure 10. Amount Composted by Sector

Figure 11. Amount Directed to Methane Recovery by Sector

Figure 12. Fat & Oil Recovery by Sector

Figure 13. Avoidable Food Waste by Household and Business Sectors

We recommend carefully revising the English language.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

We recommend carefully revising the English language.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors have met my requirements. Congratulations!

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Good luck!