The New Jersey Legislature is looking to revive a bill that would force large generators of food waste, such as hospitals, prisons, restaurants and supermarkets, to recycle their trash instead of sending it to incinerators or landfills. The Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee approved the legislation (A-2371), a measure that has been kicked around by lawmakers in various versions for the past six years. A similar, but not identical, bill won approval last year, but was conditionally vetoed by Gov. Phil Murphy this past summer.
By some accounts, Americans throw out up to 40% of their food every year, discarding it mostly to garbage dumps and incinerators. In landfills, it ends up rotting and releasing methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, into the atmosphere.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, approximately 38 million tons of food produced for human consumption are lost every year, a loss equating to $168 billion. Under the bill, large generators of food waste would have to separate it from other trash and send it to either composting facilities or food-waste-to-energy facilities, including anaerobic digesters.
But opponents, including the New Jersey Food Council, argued it would be too costly for supermarkets to comply with the law. Moreover, there are too few composting and other facilities that could recycle the food waste, according to the council’s Rocco D’Antonio. “If it is not cost-effective, no one will do it,’’ predicted D’Antonio.
The bill is viewed as a step toward reducing the amount of food waste that ends up in the environment, but compromises in the most recent legislative session end up pushing Gov. Phil Murphy to conditionally veto the bill.