Food waste diversion advocates say a recent, well-publicized study that found just one state has been effective in reducing food waste through a legislative ban could hurt efforts to tackle the problem.
The study in Science Magazine earlier this month found that only Massachusetts has successfully reduced landfill waste through its food waste ban. While nine states have organic matter waste bans, the researchers limited their work to five states that implemented such policies first – Massachusetts, California, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont.
In the United States, about a third of food produced is wasted, with the majority going to landfills. Not only is this food not going to people facing hunger but also creates major environmental impacts, said Fiorentia Anglou, co-author of the study and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Texas at Austin.
Food waste makes up about 24% of solid waste in U.S. landfills, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, and emits more methane than any other material because of its rapid decay rate. In total, EPA estimates 58% of methane released from municipal landfills is from food – equivalent to greenhouse gas emissions from more than 50 million gas-powered passenger vehicles.
Fiorentia Anglou
Researchers used a method that compared each state that adopted a ban with a selected subset of similar states that did not.
Anglou told Agri-Pulse the analysis found that the combined reduction in landfills in the five states was less than 3%, with no measurable impact in California, Connecticut, Vermont and Rhode Island.
In Massachusetts, however, researchers found that waste was reduced by an average of about 7% over the years evaluated – from 2014, when Massachusetts instituted its ban, through 2019.
Anglou attributed success in Massachusetts to affordability, simplicity and enforcement.
She said researchers measured the complexity of different laws, including exemptions and generator thresholds, and determined Massachusetts had “by far” the simplest law.
Massachusetts also had a much higher density of food waste composting facilities than any other state with a ban or anywhere else in the country, Anglou added. This makes it less costly for generators to comply.
Its policy went into effect in 2014 and applied to about 1,350 businesses. As of 2023, the law applied to about 3,100. It does not include residential food waste.
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John Fischer, deputy division director of solid waste at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, said the state took its time developing the policy, and tried to ease compliance with technical assistance. Massachusetts has a relatively high solid waste disposal fee, which tends to make composting and anaerobic digestion more cost-effective, he added.
Fischer said other states are starting to see success with their waste bans as well, particularly in the Northeast, which helps regional companies develop more consistent approaches to managing food waste and creates a larger network for waste diversion infrastructure.
“The growth of the bans on a regional basis I think is a really important factor, and I think as we move forward, is going to create a lot of positive momentum and continued progress across the region,” Fischer said.
Representatives of CalRecycle, which oversees organics recycling in California, disputed the findings, saying they plan to contact the authors to “clarify inaccuracies” to better inform future research, a spokesperson said in an email.
California implemented organics recycling collection requirements in 2016 for large businesses and expanded it to all businesses and residents in 2022 with stricter compliance standards.
Since the study did not include data after the updated standards and enforcement took effect, it does not reflect the success of the program, the spokesperson wrote, adding that there was a drop in organic material in landfills from 67% in 2014 to 48% in 2021.
“The study is quite flawed, and as a result, it’s quite misleading,” said Dana Gunders, executive director of ReFED, a national nonprofit focused on reducing food waste.
Specifically, Gunders and other state representatives said by not looking past 2019, the study failed to take into account gains made since the pandemic. In addition, they said the study looked at overall waste rather than just food waste.
Dana GundersThe study also does not account for some specifics in each law, Gunders said, such as exemptions or the amount of food donated since bans were implemented. She said some laws are stronger than others, while the study puts all these policies under one umbrella.
The study “actually really threatens what we think is one of the strongest levers to successfully reduce food waste across the country,” she said.
Gunders acknowledged that it’s difficult to get accurate data on waste because of the lack of annual measuring in landfills, and advocated a more systematic approach to measuring data.
Vermont's 2012 food waste ban covered businesses and residents in phases, starting with the largest food waste generators. The full ban took effect in 2020, with some exemptions for residents and businesses and strict definitions of food waste.
“I think the bottom line is the law has flexibility, and still does, even though it's a full food waste ban,” said Josh Kelly, solid waste program manager for Vermont.
The Science study used a 2018 waste composition study for Vermont which showed little to no measurable change in food waste diversion. However, Kelly cites a more recent study from 2023 that found waste tonnage dropped 13%, demonstrating the ban's effectiveness.
Vermont also calculated an estimated food waste recovery rate of 50.7-56.8%, which Kelly said is close to what the state hoped to achieve from the policy.
Policies implemented in Vermont and other states to address food waste have motivated industry to react and build infrastructure, which has an important long-term impact, he said.
“I think the bottom line is, we believe we've seen some progress and we have more to do,” Kelly said.
While the study can be read as critical of these bans, Anglou does not want them overturned or scaled back because they have a lot of potential to reduce waste and greenhouse gases.
“But in order for them to be truly effective and successful, they need more than just good intentions, they need careful implementation,” she added.
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