NJ’s Compost Bill is Weak
As happy as I am that New Jersey has a Food Waste Recycling Law in place and became the seventh state in the U.S. with some version of a food waste recycling requirement, it’s weak. Most complaints that come up about the law are that:
1) It only applies to establishments who generate a projected volume of 52 tons of food waste or more.
2) It only applies to establishments who are within a 25 mile radius of a food reycling facility authorized to recycle source separated foods, despite the fact that trash is hauled well over 400 miles to a landfill. This means that if a facility is 30 miles from a local NJ facility that can process their food waste, they are legally allowed to send it to a landfill hundreds of miles away instead. #makeitmakesense
3) Only two facilities in NJ are authorized to recycle source separated food waste in New Jersey as of January, 2021: Waste Management CORe Elizabeth and Trenton Renewable Power. It seems that NJ hasn’t made it a priority to incentivize the build out of a local market for food waste recycling.
4) Both of the authorized facilities are basically waste-to-energy plants, which insinuates that the state is more motivated to prop up energy production (which is undoubtedly important), but fails to consider farms and compost facilities who transform food waste into compost. These types of facilities need to be considered. Not only do they help divert massive amounts of food from landfill (which is kind of the whole point of the law) but they also (1) would make it possible for many more food establishments to be required to recycle their food waste; (2) create finished compost that’s extremely valuable and desperately needed in NJ to regenerate degraded land & support a healthier, more equitable food system.
It’s important to point out that food waste generators are allowed to send their food waste to a true compost facility instead of WM’s CORe or Trenton Renewable Power, but the law doesn’t consider these compost facilities as "authorized” to the point where an establishment is required to recycle their food waste if they are within a 25 mile radius of one.
5) That residents are not included.
My thoughts on the matter are that as important as it is for EVERYONE to compost, it’s important to build out the infrastructure first. In the meantime, counties and cities can create their own food waste recycling laws.
All these issues are really annoying, but I’m personally offended that, according to this law, plate waste doesn’t even count as food waste.
“Ummmmmm… that’s stupid”
— Side eyeing Chloe when she reads this post
(probably)
Before I jump into what “plate waste” is (which I’m sure you can accurately guess), perhaps it would be a good time for me to back up for a moment and provide a little more info about the law.
Overview of New Jersey’s Food Waste Recycling & Food Waste-to-Energy Production Law:
The Basics:
The bill was introduced at the end of January 2020 and signed into law April 2020 and went into effect October 14, 2021.
This timeline is no doubt impressive, but it’s important to understand that the sponsor of this bill (bless his heart), Bob Smith, had been working hard to pass legislation that mandates composting food waste for quite some time.The bill requires large food waste generators who produce more than 52 tons of food waste per year, to to source separate and recycle their food waste.
"Large food waste generator" means any commercial food wholesaler, distributor, industrial food processor, supermarket, resort, conference center, banquet hall, restaurant, educational or religious institution, military installation, prison, hospital, medical facility, or casino (that generates more than 52 tons of food waste per year)
"Source separate" means that food waste is separated from other solid waste at the point of waste generation by the generator for the purpose of recycling. Basically, put food waste in a compost bin and regular trash in a regular trash bin.
52 tons of food waste per year equates to about 285 lbs of food waste per day. Americans waste approximately 1lb of food per day per person. So if say, for example, a school cafeteria is meant to feed more than 285 people per day, than they’d likely generate 285 lbs of food waste per day, IF they werre taking into account plate waste as well.
The law maintains that’s the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) is responsible for adopting rules and regulations necessary to implement the law. Although it was understood that NJDEP wouldn’t have rules established by October 14, 2021, that’s when the DEP was supposedly going to begin enforcing the law anyway.
The law itself requires these regulations to include certain administrative requirements; these include (a) recordkeeping and reporting requirements for generators and recycling facilities, (b) guidelines for businesses to follow to determine whether they are subject to the food waste recycling mandate, (c) a list of food waste products that must be recycled, standards for on-site composting or digestion of food waste by generators, and (d) procedures for generators to petition for a waiver of the recycling requirement if recycling costs exceed 110 % of the cost of transporting and disposing of the food as solid waste.
The law establishes a Food Waste Recycling Market Development Council to provide recommendations on how to increase demand for products and energy generated by food waste recycling facilities.
Exemptions:
Food waste generators are allowed to recycle their food waste by performing enclosed on-site composting, or anaerobic or aerobic digestion of its source separated food waste in accordance with the law.
A large food waste generator may petition for a waiver if the cost of transporting and processing the food waste at the recycling facility exceeds the cost of transporting and disposing of the food as solid waste (e.g., at a landfill) by 10% or more.
If an authorized food waste recycling facility located within the 25 mile radius of the generator will not accept the generator’s food waste for some reason, the large food waste generator may send the food waste for final disposal at a solid waste facility.
Penalties for Non-Compliance:
If this law is violated, or any rule or regulation adopted by the NJDEP pursuant to the law, will receive a civil penalty of $250 for the first offense, $500 for the second offense, and $1,000 for the third and each subsequent offense.
If the violation is of a continuing nature, they will be fined an additional, separate, and distinct offense each day.
Food Waste, as defined by this law (and not necessarily common sense):
Food processing vegetative waste, food processing residue generated from processing and packaging operations, overripe produce, food trimmings, food product over-runs from food processing, soiled and unrecyclable paper generated from food processing (think paper towels), and used cooking fats, oil, and grease.
Plate waste and food donated by the establishment is not considered food waste and shall not be included when estimating or measuring the amount of food waste generated.
While of course it makes sense not to include food that’s donated as “food waste”… because obviously it’s not waste if it’s not wasted (duh)… the plate waste provision makes zero sense.
What is Plate Waste?
Plate Waste is defined as the quantity of food served that’s not eaten. Plate waste has been assessed by a variety of methodologies and expressed in varying terms: as the proportion of food served that is uneaten, amount of calories uneaten, or amount of nutrients uneaten (USDA 2002). For the sake of this conversation and when working with food waste generators, Plate Waste is most commonly expressed in weight (lbs). “Pretty garnishes”, excess condiments, bread basket leftovers, and anything left on a plate whether it’s left because the individual didn’t care for it or found the portion too large are all examples of plate waste. According to NRDC estimates, plate waste accounts for roughly 20% of all the wasted food in the U.S. — more than 12 million tons annually! When we single this estimate down to only include plate waste in commercial settings, the findings are much worse.
In August 2019, the NRDC published the first of its kind study, Toward Cleaner Plates, in collaboration with Bon Appetit Management Company, one of the leading dining companies in the U.S. to study plate waste at 20 Bon Appetit-managed colleges and “Business & Industry” cafes (e.g. cafes at corporate headquarters) around the country. During this study, more than 12,000 people’s plate waste were weighed, and more than 1,500 of those individuals participated in a written survey about what foods they were discarding and why. According to Leanpath, a food waste prevention technology company, data shows that plate waste can make up as much as 60% of an operations total food waste stream.
With the knowledge that plate waste makes up more than half of a food waste generator’s total food waste, it’s extremely difficult for anyone to make the case for not counting plate waste when determing whether a New Jersey establishment is required to recycle their food waste or not.
While my to-do list is looking pretty long these days, I assure you that getting to the bottom of this “plate waste” exclusion is on there.
Until then… please stop wasting your food and start composting :)
Resources:
New Jersey Food Waste Policy Gap Analysis and Inventory — NRDC; October 2021
New Jersey Food Waste Recycling Law FAQ & Guidance — NJ Composting Council
Food Waste Recycling and Food Waste-to-Energy Production Law P.L. 2020 c.24. — NJDEP
Summary of NJ A2371 (the bill that became the Food Waste Recycling Law) — Bill Track
BANS AND BEYOND: Designing and Implementing Organic Waste Bans and Mandatory Organics Recycling Laws — The Center for EcoTechnology (CET) and The Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC)
This toolkit analyzes the structure and implementation of organic waste bans and presents examples from states and cities with existing or proposed waste bans. The toolkit provides a resource to help state and local governments, advocates, and other stakeholders evaluate options for developing policies to address food waste and tailor approaches to state or local context. The toolkit analyzes organic waste bans from a holistic perspective, examining the structure of organic waste ban laws as well as other factors including funding, infrastructure, enforcement, and educationNew Jersey Enacts Food Waste Recycling Mandate – Implementation Issues on Horizon — Waste360 article written by Matthew Karmel
This article points out super valid concerns about how effective the implementation and regulation of this law will be.NJ Composting Council: A nonprofit industry group, advances compost manufacturing, compost utilization, and organics recycling to benefit the council members, society, and the environment in the state of New Jersey.
ReFed’s Rating of New Jersey Food Waste Policy — Highlights below:
Food Donation Liability Protection Policy — Strong. In addition to The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, which provides a strong federal baseline of protection for food donors, NJ has additional protections in place for businesses who donate food.
NJ Tax Incentives — Weak/ No Policy. NJ does not offer additional tax incentives beyond federal incentives.
Organics Recycling Law — WEAK! HA! They agree with my consensus.
