While food waste diversion has increased following the state’s enactment of its organic waste ban, Massachusetts must further reduce the amount of food waste headed to landfills and incinerators by 420,000 tons a year to reach the goals set in the state’s 2030 Solid Waste Master Plan. [...] Recognizing the highly impactful and concurrent benefits of food waste reduction and diversion measures, states such as California, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, and Oregon, have included a wide array of food waste prevention, food recovery, and organic waste recycling initiatives in their draft PCAPs. [...] The existence of the waste ban demonstrates the state’s commitment to protecting the environment and decreasing needless waste, but Massachusetts could bolster the waste ban to address the state’s overflowing landfills and the harmful environmental effects through more stringent and consistent enforcement and expansion of the ban’s reach. [...] o Monitor, track, and publish data on the state’s organic waste including the amount of organic waste generated, the recycling and waste pathways organic waste goes to within and outside the state, and the associated greenhouse gas emissions generated within the state and reduced as a result of the waste ban. [...] The work that Massachusetts is already doing related to schools, including subjecting large schools to the organics waste ban and offering environmental programming in schools, could be complimented by funding supporting the following initiatives: o Requiring food waste audits that identify school food waste streams and highlight the magnitude of the issue.
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- United States of America
