How Food Waste Generators and Supply Chain Partners Can Shape Implementable Prevention and Diversion Policies

Twenty-three states introduced over 90 bills targeting food waste prevention and reduction in 2023 alone–from landfill bans to food donation mandates. More rules like these will come as states set out to tackle an amassing organics trash problem.

Keeping up with the patchwork of evolving and often complex regulations takes work. But increasingly waste companies, food rescue organizations, generators, and other supply chain players are seeing they need to stay tuned—especially to proposed rules that are just now taking shape.

These stakeholders are the ones on the ground, toiling to divert the waste or prevent it in the first place. They will be most impacted by legislation. And their input on what should be included in the laws ahead of when those laws are rubber stamped is key to ensuring regulators consider their needs. Their voices are as important in bringing to light what has worked from an implementation standpoint and what has not.

Food waste-related laws can incentivize or serve as barriers to the supply chain’s efforts. Legislation dictates the rules around rescuing and redistributing surplus edible food. And further downstream, it can potentially determine whether food scraps will be recycled rather than landfilled, says Heather Latino, a clinical instructor with the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC). The Clinic has long been involved in informing policies in this space.

Through its work it has gleaned two lessons:

“We learned we need comprehensive policies—there is no one fix. And we learned that policies won’t succeed unless they are informed by the wide range of food system stakeholders who are impacted by food loss and waste,” Latino says.

Work to achieve the best outcomes, she and her colleagues believe, must start with providing informational resources to the myriad of organizations that are similarly driven to fight food waste.

That work has begun. FLPC in partnership with ReFED developed the ReFED Policy finder to help stakeholders understand existing laws in their jurisdictions and nationwide. It’s there to arm them with information to advocate for better policies, focusing on areas such as food date labeling, tax incentives for food donation, and organics recycling regulations.

A newer resource, the Food Waste Legislative Tracker, also provides information on established laws, but this database also keeps tabs on state bills still under consideration. The idea is to provide easily accessible details so stakeholders can weigh in on pending legislation in their states, as well as learn of proposed policies elsewhere. It’s hoped they will use it to champion similar measures, Latino says.

Impact technology company Divert supports grocers in meeting their sustainability goals through donation programs for edible food and conversion of wasted food into renewable natural gas. Their customers—among the country’s largest generators—are the ones charged with leading the food waste fight, especially in states like California (SB 1383) and Washington (HB 1799).

Since its launch, Divert has helped them stay versed on organic waste policies that will affect their operations. The company went on to  develop the Food Waste Legislative Tracker in partnership with the Zero Food Waste Coalition and FLPC.

Many of the tech developer’s customers were already working on the problem ahead of regulations, says Chris Thomas, Divert vice president of public affairs.

They are eager to share what they have learned in order to help themselves and their supply chain partners achieve a collective goal.  They see it as a win for both industry and lawmakers if they can help ensure the rules are implementable and effective across the boards.

Thomas echoes Latino’s conviction: There is no one-size answer to keeping food waste out of landfills and going to the highest use possible.

“Approximately 40 percent of all food in the U.S. goes to waste. This equates to 130 billion uneaten meals each year. A problem of this scale can only be solved through a multifaceted approach,” he says. 

“If we only focus on landfill diversion and do not address prevention, we are only solving half the problem.”

What practice or technology works depends largely on who the generator or service provider is, their needs, and goals.  

For example, when it comes to diversion, while compost is typically effective in residential communities, it can fall short in meeting the needs of commercial-scale generators and overburden composters who have a hard time dealing with this sector’s organics given the sheer volume, its moisture and contamination levels, Thomas notes.

Anaerobic digestion may be a better fit in this scenario given its tolerance of highly contaminated wet materials and that nonfood organics don’t have to be added to the mix.

“So basically, there is no ceiling for how much wasted food can be processed as new laws trigger compliance from commercial generators,” Thomas says.

Looking further upstream, rescue organizations have their own circumstances. They need to get ahold of enough good food and keep it coming; but businesses are often hesitant to donate, concerned about liability. Laws breaking through this barrier make the rules around donation very clear and offer incentives, as California has done. The state has gone a step further, requiring jurisdictions to establish food recovery programs and strengthen their existing recovery networks.

The work to shape policy is ongoing and is now being considered at a federal level, with several proposed bills pending before Congress.

“We hope to see some of these, including the No Time to Waste Act
and the Food Date Labeling Act, integrated into the next Farm Bill when it moves forward,” Latino says.  

2025 is projected to be an active year in organic waste legislation. Divert and its partners will be on the lookout, particularly for what’s happening state by state. The plan is to update the Food Waste Legislative Tracker quarterly, and to share more detailed insights into 2025 state policies in the first update this fall.