Restaurants in Rome urged to sign up to doggy bag project.

Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri on Friday launched a new doggy bag initiative for the city's restaurants, with the aim of reducing food waste in the Italian capital.

The city says the goal is to "promote concrete action to combat food waste" and involves the distribution of recyclable aluminum trays to restaurants whose customers can take home leftover food and avoid it being thrown out.

The Tenga il Resto initiative is a collaboration between Rome's environment department and the CIAL consortium for the collection, recovery and recycling of aluminum packaging, with the support of trade associations whose members include restaurateurs.

Siamo in uno dei tanti ristoranti di #Roma che hanno aderito all’iniziativa #Tengailresto, contro lo #sprecoalimentare. Ecco di cosa si tratta.

Più info e adesioni https://t.co/3pkGXgZmRw pic.twitter.com/jiujCFpmDw— Roberto Gualtieri (@gualtierieurope) March 1, 2024

Restaurants participating in the Tengo il Resto scheme will display a sign to inform customers that the service is available on their premises.

Although nothing new to many countries around the world, until relatively recently the concept of doggy bags was widely frowned upon in Italy.

However attitudes are changing and the practice is slowly becoming more common.

Earlier this year the centre-right Forza Italy party filed a bill to make doggy bags compulsory in Italy's restaurants, describing it as a "mark of positive civic sense".