They are world champions in creating food waste – but this is how they make the best of it in South Korea

South Koreans just love their side dishes to each meal, also called barchan. The problem: nobody can finish them all.

So with 130 kg per head/year Korea is on the top of the list for food wastage.

But in recent years strict laws and technology have put the waste to use: Dumping of food in landfills was banned by the South Korean government as off 2005 and since 2013 the law says, consumers have to recycle their food waste – by using special biodegradable bags and smart machines, 6.000 of them, in the capitol Seoul alone.

The waste becomes fertilizer – more and more used by urban farms in Korea, and by that literally going back into the food chain…