Bill Text: NJ S348 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires each solid waste management district to develop strategy in solid waste management plan to reduce food waste.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-14 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Environment and Energy Committee [S348 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-S348-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
219th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2020 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator BOB SMITH
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Requires each solid waste management district to develop strategy in solid waste management plan to reduce food waste.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning the reduction of food waste and supplementing P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. No later than two years after the effective date of this section, each solid waste management district in the State shall develop and implement a strategy for reducing, by the year 2030, the amount of food waste generated annually in the district by at least 50 percent of the amount which is generated in the year this section takes effect. The strategy shall be adopted as an amendment to the district solid waste management plan required pursuant to the "Solid Waste Management Act," P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.) and subject to the approval of the department.
b. No later than 180 days after the effective date of this section, the department shall develop, and publish on its Internet website, a list of measures solid waste management districts can take in order to achieve the food waste reduction requirement established in subsection a. of this section. Such measures shall include, but need not be limited to, measures to increase the donation of surplus edible food, the source separation and recycling of food waste, composting and anaerobic digestion of food waste, and public awareness campaigns.
c. As used in this section, "food waste" means food processing waste, food processing residue generated from processing and packaging operations, overripe or spoiled produce, trimmings from food, food product over-runs, soiled and unrecyclable paper, and used cooking fats, oil, and grease.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require each county to develop, as part of its district solid waste management plan, a strategy to reduce food waste in the district.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), approximately 40 percent of the United States food supply goes uneaten each year due to losses at the farm, retail, and consumer levels. The vast majority of this food waste ends up in landfills, where it takes up valuable landfill space and emits methane, a potent greenhouse gas contributing to climate change. At the same time, over 14 percent of United States households struggle to put enough food on the table, leaving 49 million Americans, including 16 million children, at risk of going hungry. It is estimated that the food saved by reducing losses by just 15 percent could feed more than 25 million Americans each year.
In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the USDA announced a national goal of reducing food waste by 50 percent by the year 2030. In 2017, the New Jersey State Legislature passed P.L.2017, c.136 (C.13:1E-226), which established a similar goal for the State. To meet that ambitious goal, this bill would require each solid waste management district in the State (i.e., each county and the Hackensack Meadowlands District) to develop and implement a strategy for reducing, by the year 2030, the amount of food waste generated annually in the district by at least 50 percent of the amount which is generated in the year this section takes effect. The strategy would be adopted as an amendment to each district's solid waste management plan and subject to the approval of the department.
The bill would require the Department of Environmental protection to develop, and publish on its Internet website, a list of measures solid waste management districts can take in order to achieve the food waste reduction requirement established in the bill. These measures would include actions to prevent food waste and increase the donation of surplus edible food, the source separation and recycling of food waste, composting and anaerobic digestion of food waste, and public awareness campaigns.
