Scientists and government officials increasingly recognize food waste as a major contributor to climate change. Across the globe, producing and disposing of uneaten food accounts for about half of the greenhouse gas emissions from the entire food system. Massachusetts was among the first states to pass regulations curbing food waste, and according to new research published in the journal Science, it’s the only state where the rules are working.
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) Commissioner Bonnie Heiple said the state is proud to be recognized as a national leader. “This has been a long time coming,” she said. In the United States, about 35% of food produced is never eaten. Much of it winds up in landfills where it gives off methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change, as it decomposes.聽Methane emissions from Massachusetts landfills have the same climate impacts as about 116,000 cars on the road for a year.
To stem the flow of lettuce聽(and other food) to landfills, nine states and a handful of cities and towns have enacted food waste bans 鈥� laws and regulations that prohibit sending organic waste to landfills or incinerators. Massachusetts was among the first five states to enact a food waste ban 鈥� the others were California, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont. Massachusetts’ first food waste ban, enacted聽a decade ago, required any business producing more than a ton of food waste per week to keep it out of landfills or incinerators. Instead, businesses聽were told to divert edible surplus food to charities or food recovery services, and send food waste聽to compost facilities or anaerobic digesters that turn it into energy. Massachusetts enacted a stricter ban in 2022, lowering the threshold to a half-ton of food waste per week.