Although it could be given to the needy or to care centers, the law regulating this situation is not clear enough. However, there are exceptions, and food ends up where it is needed the most.

Restaurants make efforts to reduce food waste, but they cannot save all the leftovers after New Year's Eve parties.

It is much easier for them to donate unsold food to restaurants with home delivery services. From the beginning, the food is cooked and portioned so that it can be placed in special containers for transport. Such a chain of restaurants has been donating food to a humanitarian foundation for the past two years.

Alexandru Negrea, project manager: "The procedure is very simple. We close certain home delivery locations around 9:30 PM, and at around 9 PM, we already have an idea of the portions that will remain. We send the number of portions and the addresses from where the foundation can pick them up".

The foundation collects the products and takes them where they are needed the most. They currently collaborate with 15 restaurants from several cities.

Alina Baicu, president of the "Unu și Unu" foundation: "What they have to do is very simple: in the evening, at the end of the shift, the remaining food in the pot, they should put it in containers, place it in a bag, and notify us that they have leftover products, and we take care of everything related to logistics, meaning we pick up the food from the restaurants and take it to our beneficiaries".

Many establishments are afraid to collaborate with such organizations because the rules for implementing the food waste law are not clear.

Gabriel Sescu, president of the Food Bank: "The Romanian 2017/2016 law combating food waste provides, among other things, the collection of prepared products from the HORECA sector and their donation, but unfortunately, there are no regulations for such a thing, specifying this transfer, and since it's not very clear, people have been avoiding it".

Unfortunately, Romania is ranked 1st in food waste in Europe.

Vlad Gheorghe, Member of the European Parliament: "We lack tailored legislation, thus the government needs to undertake more legislative efforts across the entire chain – from producers and distributors to consumers. Moreover, there is insufficient emphasis on the necessity to change our mindset".

According to the latest Eurostat data, approximately 2.5 million tons of food are thrown away every year in Romania.