Last updated October 16, 2024.
The Issue
Approximately 40% of the food generated in the United States each year goes unsold or uneaten. Most of this food waste ends up in landfills, where it breaks down to produce methane, a climate-damaging gas. In fact, landfills are the third-largest source of methane emissions globally. This contributes to extreme weather worldwide, destroying homes and farms, and causing death by natural disasters and food insecurity.
All this food waste leads to food insecurity at home as well. About one in seven U.S. households are food insecure, meaning they have limited or uncertain access to adequate food. Many food insecure Americans are children and many food insecure households are disproportionately Black and Latinx. Yet, we waste significant resources such as water, labor, fertilizer, and energy to produce and transport food that is ultimately thrown away.
SHARE OUR TOOLKIT
NEED HELP WITH YOUR BILL?
The Solution
To address food waste, many states have passed Food Waste Prevention and Recycling Laws that slowly ban the disposal of food waste in landfills and incinerators, and redirect edible food to food insecure households.
These laws ban “food waste generators” from throwing out the food waste they create. Instead, they must find alternative, more sustainable ways to manage their food waste. This includes reducing food waste, donating excess edible food to hunger relief organizations like food banks, or recycling food waste through composting or anaerobic digestion at organics recycling facilities (organics recyclers). These facilities turn food waste into energy (like biogas) or food for soil (like compost and digestate) which is helpful for farming.
Under most of these laws businesses and institutions that generate large volumes of food waste and are located near organic recycling facilities are the “food waste generators” regulated. However, some states – like Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont – have passed stronger laws that also apply to small businesses, and in some cases, residents.
Terms Defined
Compost – a nutrient-rich fertilizer created from the controlled breakdown of organic matter, like food waste.
Anaerobic Digestion – the oxygen-free breakdown of organic matter, like food waste, by microorganisms to produce digestate and biogas.
We understand that every state is unique and there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to enacting sensible and effective Zero Waste laws. We’ve designed this model legislation toolkit to be interactive and customizable, to help you achieve your goals and design a policy that works for you and your community.
1) Download Our Bill Template
This template will help you develop a bill that is customized for your community. You’ll use the template as you navigate the toolkit and evaluate the different policy approaches. When you select a policy approach you want to move forward with, copy and paste the language from the interactive toolkit into your template.
2) Explore Policy Decisions
Use this toolkit to explore the policy decisions you can make to develop a tailored proposal that works for you. Each section provides various approaches you can take, along with examples from states and cities that have adopted this approach. The toolkit also includes sample language you can copy and paste into the model bill template to develop a bill that you feel will work best for your community.
3) Make Policy Decisions
With Food Waste Prevention and Recycling Laws, the big policy decisions that we help you understand and navigate in our toolkit are:
- Who should the law apply to?
- Should the law regulate depackaging facilities?
- Should the law include a prohibition on co-digestion and co-composting of food waste and sewage sludge.
JOIN THE MOVEMENT
Terms Defined
Depackaging Facility – a facility that mechanically separates food waste from inorganic packaging material such as plastic, glass, and aluminum.
Co-Digestion – the anaerobic digestion of food waste mixed with sewage sludge.
Sewage Sludge – solid, semi-solid, or liquid waste generated from facilities that process wastewater from households, businesses, and industrial facilities.
Food Waste Prevention and Recycling Law
Before You Begin
To use this toolkit, review each tab (Sections 1-10) to explore the different policy options available. From there, decide which policies you want to include in your bill. Each section has sample language for you to copy and paste into our downloadable bill template. This is the language you’ll use to create your bill. To help you get started, you can find an outline of the bill sections below.
Bill Outline
Section 1:
Definitions
Explains the meaning of key terms in the bill.
Section 2:
Food Waste Management Requirements
Sets the requirements for designated food waste generators which are usually the businesses and institutions (and sometimes residents) required to divert their food waste.
Section 3:
Hardship Waiver
Allows those that are classified as “designated food waste generators,” to apply for a temporary exception from this law.
Section 4:
Use of Depackaging Facilities to Manage Food Scraps
This section is optional. If included, it establishes provisions that relate to the use and operation of depackaging facilities.
Section 5:
Requirements for Food Waste Haulers
Requires waste haulers – the companies that transport trash – to help keep food waste from designated food waste generators out of landfills and incinerators.
Section 6:
Requirements for Landfills and Incineration Facilities
Prohibits landfills and incineration facilities from accepting the food waste of designated food waste generators.
Section 7:
Prohibition on Sending Food Waste to Wastewater Treatment Plants
This section is optional. If included, it prevents food waste from being sent to wastewater treatment plants.
Section 8:
Responsibilities of the Agency
Outlines what your state environmental agency is responsible for under this law.
Section 9:
Rules
Requires your state environmental agency to create rules that will help your Food Waste Prevention and Recycling Law perform at its best.
Section 10:
Enforcement
Allows your state to carry out inspections to determine compliance and impose consequences for noncompliance.
Section 1: Definitions
Every bill starts with a definitions section that states the meaning of the key terms and components of the bill. We have provided suggested definitions for many of these terms in our bill template. However, some definitions involve policy decisions you need to evaluate and make to design a policy that accomplishes your goals and objectives. For Food Waste Prevention and Recycling Laws, this includes who is defined as a “designated food waste generator” And therefore, subject to the food waste ban.
Review the following options and choose one to use in your bill.
A Phased-In Approach that Applies to Everyone in the State
The most comprehensive approach is to slowly expand who is defined as a “designated food waste generator” within the bill. Under this approach, the ban will first apply to large businesses and institutions that generate a lot of food waste – including grocery stores, universities, and hospitals. In addition, they must be located within a certain distance of an “organics recycler,” which is usually a compost facility or anaerobic digester. Over time, the ban will apply more widely to small businesses – regardless of proximity to organics recyclers. Finally, the ban will apply to households and individuals.
This phased-in approach is designed to slowly transition the state away from throwing out food waste. This slow roll out allows the state to carefully grow and strengthen the hauling, donation, and recycling systems needed to manage food waste.
Vermont has successfully adopted this type of approach. In 2012, the Vermont Legislature enacted a comprehensive Food Waste Prevention and Recycling policy. The policy was implemented in phases, beginning with large generators of food waste – including grocery stores, universities, and hospitals. Over the next several years, the law slowly expanded to cover small businesses. In 2020, the law took full effect, with the food waste disposal ban applying to everyone, including households, in the state.
Vermont’s program has been incredibly successful. It drastically reduced the amount of food waste burned or buried, helped increase food donations, and spurred a robust network of organics recyclers across the state.
Sample Language for Your Bill
If you take this approach, use the following definition of “Designated Food Waste Generator” in SECTION 1 of the bill template.
Copy and Paste
- “Designated Food Waste Generator” means a person, business, or institution that:
- Beginning two years after the passage of this act, generates at a single location, an annual average of two tons per week or more of food waste and is located within 25 miles of an organic recycler;
- Beginning four years after the passage of this act, generates at a single location, an annual average of one ton per week or more of food waste and is located within 30 miles of an organic recycler;
- Beginning six years after the passage of this act, generates at a single location, an annual average of one ton or more of food waste per week;
- Beginning eight years after the passage of this act, generates at a single location, an annual average of one-half ton or more of food waste per week; and
- Beginning ten years after the passage of this act, generates any amount of food waste.
Applies to Large Generators and Empowers the State Environmental Agency to Expand the Program Through Rulemaking
Another approach is to have the law apply only to large generators of food waste located near organics recycling facilities and expand over time to include additional large businesses and institutions. Then only after the law is fully implemented, the state environmental gency may expand the program further through rulemaking.
Massachusetts has taken an approach that empowers its state environmental agency to expand its food waste ban over time. Starting in 2014, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection implemented regulations that slowly banned the disposal of food waste, starting with businesses and institutions generating at least one ton of food waste per week and then lowering the threshold to one-half ton per week.
Sample Language for Your Bill
If you take this approach, use the following definition of “Designated Food Waste Generator” in SECTION 1 of the bill template.
Copy and Paste
- “Designated Food Waste Generator” means a person, business, or institution that:
- Beginning two years after the passage of this act, generates at a single location, an annual average of two or more tons per week of food waste and is located within 25 miles of an organic recycler with available capacity to accept the generators food waste;
- Beginning four years after the passage of this act, generates at a single location, an annual average of one or more tons per week of food waste and is located within 30 miles of an organic recycler with available capacity to accept the generators food waste; and
- Not earlier than six years after the passage of this act, and subject to the adoption of rules by the Department, generates at a single location the annual average per week of food waste specified by the Department by rule, and is located within the distance specified by the Department by rule from an organic recycler with available capacity to accept the generators food waste.
Only Applies to Large Generators
The most popular approach is to limit the ban to large food waste generators located near an organics recycling facility. However, even under this approach the definition is expanded over time to include more businesses and institutions.
This option has helped increase organics recycling services and capacity in states like Maryland that have opted for this approach. However, those programs tend to stagnate after a few years because they don’t expand to cover additional food waste generators. Instead, the laws just establish and maintain a new status quo and expanding the program would require passing additional legislation.
Sample Language for Your Bill
If you take this approach, use the following definition of “Designated Food Waste Generator” in SECTION 1 of the bill template.
Copy and Paste
- “Designated Food Waste Generator” means a person, business, or institution that:
- Beginning two years after the passage of this act, generates at a single location, an annual average of two or more tons per week of food waste and is located within 25 miles of an organic recycler with available capacity to accept the generators food waste; and
- Beginning four years after the passage of this act, generates at a single location, an annual average of one or more tons per week of food waste and is located within 30 miles of an organic recycler with available capacity to accept the generators food waste.
Section 2: Food Waste Management Requirements
This section sets the requirements for “designated food waste generators” as defined in your bill to better manage their food waste. Some laws simply ban designated food waste generators from sending food waste to landfills or incinerators. Other laws have additional requirements that urge these large generators to reduce food waste, donate excess edible food to food banks and food pantries, and recycle everything else.
Review the following options and choose one to use in your bill.
Establish a Hierarchy That Prioritizes Ways for Managing Food Waste
In this approach, the law prohibits designated food waste generators from sending food waste to landfills and incinerators and sets clear priorities for how food waste should be managed. This includes reducing food waste in the first place, then donating edible food, and finally recycling whatever remains.
This approach ensures that food waste is put to its highest and best uses, and it often comes with additional reporting requirements and oversight by the state environmental agency. Vermont has taken this approach by establishing clear priorities for how to best manage food waste in its Food Waste Prevention and Recycling Law.
Sample Language for Your Bill
If you take this approach, copy and paste the following into SECTION 2 of the bill template.
Copy and Paste
- All designated food waste generators are prohibited from sending food waste to a landfill or incinerator, and instead shall:
- To the maximum extent practicable, reduce the volume of the food waste generated;
- To the maximum extent practicable, separate excess edible food from other food waste and arrange for the donation of the excess edible food to a food rescue organization; and
- Except as otherwise specified, separate food waste from other types of waste at the point of generation and transfer or facilitate the transfer of food waste to an organics recycler for management in accordance with the following order of priorities;
- Agricultural use, including consumption by animals;
- Composting or anaerobic digestion and subsequent soil application; and
- Anaerobic digestion not followed by soil application.
- Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent a designated food waste generator from complying with the requirements of this law by managing the food waste generated on-site through agricultural use, composting, or anaerobic digestion.
Require Large Generators of Food Waste to Donate Excess Edible Food
Another option is to have looser or fewer priorities on how generators must manage their food waste. Some states simply require large generators to donate their excess edible food to the maximum extent possible. A number of these states also establish reporting requirements to make sure the large food waste generators are trying to get edible food to those that need it.
States like New York that prioritize food donations are using perfectly edible food to help address food insecurity. This is most effective when there is an existing infrastructure that large food waste generators can tap into.
Sample Language for Your Bill
If you take this approach, copy and paste the following into SECTION 2 of the bill template.
Copy and Paste
- All designated food waste generators are prohibited from sending food waste to a landfill or incinerator, and instead shall:
- To the maximum extent practicable, reduce the volume of the food waste generated;
- Make excess edible food available to food rescue organizations; and
- Except as otherwise specified, separate food waste from other types of waste at the point of generation and transfer or facilitate the transfer of food waste to an organics recycler. Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent a designated food waste generator from complying with the requirements of this law by managing the food waste generated on-site through agricultural use, composting, or anaerobic digestion.
- All designated food waste generators that generate at least two tons of food waste per week shall submit an annual report to the Department that summarizes the amount of edible food donated, the amount of food scraps recycled, the organics recycler or recyclers and associated transporters used, and any other information as required by the Department.
Ban the Disposal of Food Waste in Landfills and Incinerators
Most states with Food Waste Prevention and Recycling Laws don’t establish a list of food waste management priorities. Instead, these states simply prohibit designated food waste generators from sending their food waste to landfills or incinerators. The designated food waste generators are then free to figure out which alternative management methods work best for them.
This is the most common and straightforward approach. However, it does not ensure that edible food that should be used to alleviate hunger is donated. Under this approach most food waste generators take the simple route and send all their food waste to a compost or anaerobic digestion facility. New Jersey took this approach when it enacted law in 2020.
Sample Language for Your Bill
If you take this approach, copy and paste the following into SECTION 2 of the bill template.
Copy and Paste
- All designated food waste generators are prohibited from sending food waste to a landfill or incinerator and shall work to reduce food waste, donate excess edible food, and recycle food waste.
- When recycling food waste, designated food waste generators shall:
- Source separate its food waste from all other solid waste; and
- Send the source separated food waste to an authorized food waste recycling facility.
Section 3: Hardship Waiver
This section allows businesses and institutions that are classified as “designated food waste generators” to apply for a temporary waiver. The state environmental agency is responsible for reviewing and approving waiver applications. If a waiver is granted, the applicant will be temporarily exempt from the requirements of the law. Often, the waiver process requires the applicant to show that complying with the law would result in financial hardship for the business or institution.
Many states with Food Waste Prevention and Recycling Laws, including Maryland and New York, allow for hardship waivers. While the specific requirements of the waiver provisions differ slightly from state-to-state, they primarily focus on whether the law imposes a financial burden on the applicant.
Sample Language for Your Bill
Copy and paste the following into SECTION 3 of the bill template.
Copy and Paste
- A designated food waste generator may petition the Department for a temporary waiver from some or all the requirements of this title. The petition must include evidence of undue hardship based on:
- A waiver shall be no longer than one year in duration.
Section 4: Use of Depackaging Facilities to Manage Food Waste (Optional)
Only include this section if you want to establish provisions that relate to the use and operation of depackaging facilities.
For many, complying with a Food Waste Prevention and Recycling Law means contracting with an organics recycler, such as a composting or anaerobic digestion facility, to manage the food waste they generate. However, a significant amount of food waste is heavily packaged and if not properly separated from food scraps, food packaging such as containers, bags, produce stickers, and wraps, may contaminate the compost. This creates operational problems for organic recycling facilities, as they spend tremendous amounts of energy and time separating food waste from these contaminants.
This is where depackaging facilities may come into play. Depackaging facilities, or “depackagers,” mechanically separate food waste from packaging such as glass, plastic, and metal. In states where designated food waste generators can utilize depackaging facilities, most send all their food waste straight to these facilities. Why? Because it’s easier and cheaper for them to dump all their food waste into one bin and send it off to the depackaging facility without any thought to sorting out edible and nutritious food, or high-quality food scraps with no packaging.
Depackaging systems come with significant concerns. A depackaging system disincentivizes food waste generators from sorting food waste for better use. This prevents excess edible food from being donated to address hunger, and food waste that could easily have been composted is now mixed with packaging. The resulting compost ends up contaminated with small pieces of packaging. And any recovered packaging material is often covered in food and cannot be recycled.
Review the following options and choose one to include in your bill.
Only Allow Heavily Packaged Organics to be Sent to Depackaging Facilities
Under this approach, designated food waste generators must separate food waste from all other waste at the point of generation. However, there is an exception for heavily packaged food waste like ice cream, yogurt, or peanut butter. If a generator produces a large amount of heavily packaged food waste, it can send those items to a depackager to be mechanically separated.
This approach, taken by Vermont, significantly limits the use of depackaging facilities, which will drastically reduce contamination and ensure food waste generators are responsible for separating their food waste from all other non-organic waste. However, it requires additional oversight and monitoring by the state agency responsible for implementing the program. It also requires the state agency to develop rules or guidelines regarding what is considered a “heavily packaged organic.”
Sample Language for Your Bill
If you plan to include Section 4 in your bill, use the sample language below for SECTION 1 and SECTION 4 of the bill template.
Copy and Paste
Copy and paste the following into SECTION 1 of the bill template.
- “Depackaging facility” means a solid waste facility that mechanically separates pre-consumer and/or post-consumer food waste from inorganic packaging material such as plastic, glass, and aluminum.
- “Heavily packaged food waste” means food waste that, as determined by the Department, is packaged in non-compostable packaging in a manner that renders it unable or difficult to be physically and economically separated by hand at the point of generation.
Now copy and paste the following into SECTION 4 of the bill template.
- All designated food waste generators are required to separate food scraps from all other non-organic solid waste at the point of generation. However, if a designated food waste generator produces a large volume of heavily packaged food scraps, the generator may transfer, or arrange for the transfer, of heavily packaged food scraps to be sent to a depackager facility for mechanical separation.
Require Reporting from Depackaging Facilities
Another option is to establish operating and reporting requirements for depackaging facilities. Under this approach, depackaging facilities must submit annual reports that list the total amount of food scraps they’ve accepted, the names of the large food waste generators that utilized the depackaging facility, and where the depackaging facility ultimately sent the organics. Depackaging facilities will also be required to make sure that the final organic material they produce is used for agricultural purposes, composted, or anaerobically digested.
This approach doesn’t limit food waste generators from utilizing depackaging facilities. Instead, it makes sure the state environmental agency has sufficient information to help understand and eventually regulate this new technology in future policies.
No states have taken this approach as of 2024. However, in 2020, Pennsylvania became one of the first states to enforce limits on depackaging technology. After concerns over how a depackaging facility was operating, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection amended the facility’s permit to limit the amount of packaged food waste it could accept. The permit amendment also set operation requirements. These requirements ensure the depackaging facility won’t shred or fragment any packaging into small pieces that will contaminate the final organic material.
Sample Language for Your Bill
If you plan to include Section 4 in your bill, use the sample language below for SECTION 1 and SECTION 4 of the bill template.
Copy and Paste
Copy and paste the following into SECTION 1 of the bill template.
- “Depackaging facility” means a solid waste facility that mechanically separates pre-consumer and/or post-consumer food waste from inorganic packaging material such as plastic, glass, and aluminum.
Now copy and paste the following into SECTION 4 of the bill template.
- Depackaging facilities are required to report to the Department on a quarterly basis:
- The amount, in tons, of food waste received;
- The name and address of the designated food waste generators that sent food waste to the facility;
- The amount, in tons, of slurry generated from processing food waste;
- The name and address of the end-user of the slurry generated from processing food waste; and
- Any other information required by the Department.
- A depackaging facility that accepts food waste is responsible for managing the food waste in a manner that ensures it is eligible for the following uses:
- Agricultural use, including consumption by animals;
- Recycling through composting or anaerobic digestion that results in the subsequent use of the material as a soil amendment; or
- Recycling through composting or anaerobic digestion not followed by subsequent use of the material as a soil amendment.
Section 5: Requirements for Food Waste Haulers
Businesses and institutions utilize haulers to get their food waste transported to facilities where it can be composted or anaerobically digested. These haulers play a key role in all Food Waste Prevention and Recycling Laws. The strongest policies include language that prohibits food waste haulers from mixing food waste with other forms of waste. They are also prohibited from sending food waste collected from businesses and institutions regulated as “designated food waste generators” to incinerators or landfills.
New York took this approach by requiring haulers to deliver food waste directly to an organics recycler or to a transfer facility, where the food waste is processed and then sent to an organics recycler. These haulers are also required to take all reasonable precautions to prevent food waste from being sent to an incinerator or landfill, and from being mixed with any other waste. These requirements help ensure that haulers keep the food waste recycling system clean and contamination-free.
Sample Language for Your Bill
Copy and paste the following into SECTION 5 of the bill template.
Copy and Paste
- Any waste transporter that collects and hauls food waste from a designated food waste generator shall:
- Deliver food waste to a transfer facility that will deliver such food waste to an organics recycler; or
- Deliver food waste directly to an organics recycler.
- Any waste transporter that collects food waste from a designated food waste generator shall take all reasonable precautions to not deliver such food waste to an incinerator or a landfill nor commingle the material with any other solid waste unless that commingled waste can be processed by an organics recycler.
Section 6: Requirements for Landfills and Incinerators
A strong Food Waste Prevention and Recycling Law prohibits designated food waste generators from sending food waste to landfills and incinerators. To add an extra layer of protection, some laws also require landfills and incinerators to take reasonable steps to avoid accepting waste from designated food waste generators.
Landfills and incinerators are paid by the ton for the waste they accept. Putting pressure on these facilities to refuse food waste from designated generators adds another layer of protection to the program and keeps landfills and incinerators accountable. New York incorporates this approach in its Food Waste Prevention and Recycling Law.
Sample Language for Your Bill
Copy and paste the following into SECTION 6 of the bill template.
Copy and Paste
- Landfill facilities and incineration facilities must take all reasonable precautions to not accept food waste from designated food waste generators who are prohibited from landfilling or incinerating food waste, unless the designated food waste generator has received a waiver from the Department.
Section 7: Prohibition on Sending Food Waste to Wastewater Treatment Plants (Optional)
Include this section if you to keep food waste from being sent to wastewater treatment plants.
When done correctly, anaerobic digestion can be an effective way to recycle food waste. However, in some states, food waste is sent to wastewater treatment plants where it is mixed with sewage sludge before being digested together. These facilities accept things like industrial and household waste, stormwater, and landfill leachate (a toxic garbage brew). As a result, the sludge created from these treatment facilities is full of harmful compounds, including per-and-polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a highly toxic class of chemicals, known as “forever chemicals,” that have serious environmental and public health impacts.
When food waste is mixed and anaerobically digested with sludge from wastewater treatment plants, the final material ends up being highly contaminated with PFAS and other toxic chemicals. Unfortunately, this material is often used as fertilizer. Spreading this material on farmland or home gardens allows these harmful compounds to contaminate soil and groundwater and negatively impact human health.
When a state is already in the habit of sending food waste and other organics to wastewater treatment plants, Food Waste Prevention and Recycling Laws can help feed this toxic system because now that food isn’t able to be landfilled or incinerated, more of it will be sent to the wastewater treatment plant.
For example, in 2018, Cambridge, MA began a curbside composting program for residential food waste. The program was intended to recycle the city’s food waste while keeping a significant amount of food waste out of the state’s already maxed-out landfills. But the food waste collected as part of the program isn’t being composted. Instead, the food waste is brought to a wastewater treatment plant, where it is mixed with sewage sludge and anaerobically digested. The remaining material, anaerobically digestated sludge, is often sold or given to people and farmers to use as a fertilizer. But this “fertilizer” is highly toxic. The concentration of PFAS in sludge is thousands of times higher than what is legally allowed in drinking water. In fact, that’s why Maine banned the practice of spreading sewage sludge and sludge-derived fertilizer on land in 2022.
To protect the value of food waste and ensure that it is used to create a clean, healthy, and toxic-free fertilizer, Food Waste Prevention and Recycling laws should prohibit sending food waste to wastewater treatment plant.
Sample Language for Your Bill
If you plan to include Section 7 in your bill, use the sample language below for SECTION 1 and SECTION 7 of the bill template.
Copy and Paste
Copy and paste the following into SECTION 1 of the bill template.
- “Sludge” means the solid residue and associated liquid resulting from physical, chemical, or biological treatment of wastewater.
- “Wastewater treatment plant” means facilities designed to treat wastewater from stormwater runoff, homes, businesses, and industries before discharging it into receiving bodies of water such as rivers, lakes, or oceans.
Now copy and paste the following into SECTION 7 of the bill template.
- Food waste collected from designated food waste generators may not be sent to a wastewater treatment plant for anerobic digestion with sludge generated from the treatment of wastewater.
Section 8: Responsibilities of the Department
Your state environmental agency will be responsible for developing and implementing the programs you include in your Food Waste Prevention and Recycling legislation. This section outlines the basic requirements the agency is responsible for.
For example, Maryland’s law clearly explains what the Maryland Department of Environment is responsible for. The law requires the Department to establish guidelines to assist businesses in complying with the requirements of the act, develop a plan to implement the requirements of the act, develop educational materials for how to manage food waste, and deliver a report on the success of the program to the legislature.
Determining how explicit to be when setting out the responsibilities of the state environmental agency is a balancing act. If you don’t trust your state environmental agency, it’s better to be more explicit. If you believe your state environmental agency is well equipped and positioned to implement the new program effectively, you can be less explicit and leave room for the Agency to fill in the gaps.
Sample Language for Your Bill
Copy and paste the following into SECTION 8 of the bill template.
Copy and Paste
- The Department shall publish on its website:
- The methodology the Department will use to determine who is a designated food waste generator;
- The waiver process; and
- A list of all designated organic recyclers, waste haulers that manage food waste in the state, and food rescue organizations that accept excess edible food.
- The Department shall develop and make available educational materials to assist designated food waste generators with compliance with this title.
- The Department shall work with municipalities, food rescue organizations, and organic recyclers to develop educational materials on food waste minimization, recycling, and contamination reduction.
Section 9: Rulemaking
As you may have noticed, the sample language we’ve included in this toolkit frequently refers to rules established by “the Department.” Food Waste Prevention and Recycling Laws, and most large environmental programs, depend on state environmental agencies to create rules and regulations that help the agencies administer these complex programs.
Leaving certain elements to agency rulemaking also provides flexibility necessary to ensure the program is tailored to your state’s needs and reflects the nuances of your state’s legal system. Additionally, not every question can be answered up front in a piece of future-thinking legislation. There is value in letting state environmental agencies, who are uniquely situated to understand the needs of their states, figure out how to make all the elements work together. This section does just that. It requires your state environmental agency to create the rules that will help your Food Waste Prevention and Recycling program succeed.
New York’s law requires the NY Department of Environmental Conservation to develop all rules and regulations necessary to implement the law. It also specifies that this includes developing rules regarding: (a)the methodology the department will use to
determine who is a designated food scraps generator; (b) the hardship waiver process; (c) procedures to minimize odors and vectors; (d) a list of all designated food waste generators, organics recyclers, and all waste transporters that manage source-separated organics; and (e) how designated food waste generators shall comply with the provisions of the law.
Sample Language for Your Bill
Copy and paste the following into SECTION 9 of the bill template.
Copy and Paste
- The Department shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this title, including:
- The methodology the Department will use to determine who is a designated food waste generator;
- The waiver process; and
- How designated food waste generators shall comply with the provisions of this title.
Section 10: Enforcement
The requirements and standards in your Food Waste Prevention and Recycling Law don’t amount to much if your state cannot enforce them. The language we’ve drafted for this section allows your state to do just that. This section covers how the state environmental agency will enforce the new law. We’ve presented two different approaches below, neither of which require the state environmental agency to monitor each generator directly.
Review the following options and choose one to use in your bill.
Enforcement without Direct Monitoring
Some states, like Massachusetts and Vermont, enforce their programs without directly monitoring generators. Instead, they carry out inspections at transfer stations or landfills.
Sample Language for Your Bill
Copy and Paste
- The Department may inspect solid waste management facilities, organic recycling facilities, and waste haulers to determine compliance with the requirements of this title and any rule or regulation adopted under this title.
Education, Warnings, and Enforcement
Another approach is to require the state environmental agency to first issue warnings for any violations. The agency will then work with violators to bring them into compliance. Subsequent violations will result in penalties and fines. Maryland takes this approach.
Sample Language for Your Bill
Copy and Paste
Copy and paste the following into SECTION 1 of the bill template.
- “Large food waste generators” mean any designated food waste generator that produces at a single location an annual average of one ton per week or more of food
Now copy and paste the following into SECTION 10 of the bill template.
- Department personnel can enter any large food waste generator’s property or inspect records, at all reasonable times and locations, for the purpose of determining compliance with this title and any rule or regulation adopted under this title.
- The Department shall issue a warning to a person who violates the requirements of this title or any rule or regulations adopted under this title.
- After receiving a warning issued under paragraph (1) of this subsection, a person who subsequently violates this title, or any rule or regulation adopted under this title, shall be subject to a civil penalty, to be collected in a civil action brought by the Department, of:
- $250 for the second violation;
- $500 for the third violation; and
- $1000 for the fourth and each subsequent violation.
- Each day a violation occurs is a separate violation.
You’ve drafted your Food Waste Prevention and Recycling Law, but now what? The next step is to find a legislative champion to sponsor your bill and formally introduce it in your state legislature. This should be a legislator who is passionate about the goal you’re trying to achieve and is committed to advocating for the bill.
Understanding and navigating the legislative process can be challenging. Don’t worry, Just Zero is here to help! Although every state’s legislative process is unique, they tend to follow a similar structure.