Top Recycling and Organics Stories for May 2023

#5 - A Reality Check on the 5 Rs

For years it’s been the 3 Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. But recently the 3 have expanded to 5 and, in some cases, even the 7 Rs. It’s like watching the evolution of Marvel movies expand from Iron-Man to Captain America to the Avengers.

Read the full article here.

#4 - California’s Food Label Legislation Sees More Movement

California’s AB 660, which is aiming to mandate specific terminology around date labels on food packaging, took another step forward May 18, 2023, as it passed through the House Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Read the full article here.

#3 - Food Waste Policy Models and Opportunities Learned from WasteExpo

The lack of clear and comprehensive laws and labeling surrounding food waste and disposal is causing confusion about what food can be donated and how to do it. 

Read the full article here.

#2 - California’s Recycling Market Development Program Pays Businesses to Build a Green Economy

California is enticing recycling and remanufacturing businesses to locate and expand across regions through a program that’s decades old but is ramping up and transforming. Run and funded by CalRecycle, the Recycling Market Development Zone (RMDZ) program has divvied out 219 low-interest loans totaling $206M since 1994, allocating $41.2M of it in the past three years alone as the circular economy push grows stronger.

Read the full article here.

#1 - Divert Scales Food Waste Reduction Plans Across North America

What will it take to meaningfully chip away at a pervasive food waste problem in the U.S.? That’s the roughly 100-million-ton-a year question that municipalities and industry have been trying to answer for years. Divert is among the private-sector players in this space, strategizing ways to turn mega volumes of would-be rotting organics into product, beginning with targeting grocery store waste. The Massachusetts-based operation is making good headway.

Read the full article here.