Food waste laws ineffective at curbing emissions

Food waste laws largely ineffective due to lack of enforcement

What you probably already know: A new study has looked into whether laws aimed at curbing food waste that ends up in landfills have actually worked and the outcomes are pretty definitive: The laws aren’t working. But it’s not that simple. The study looked at laws in California, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont and Massachusetts and found only the Massachusetts law had any meaningful impact on reducing the amount of food that ended up in landfills.

Why? The why is actually pretty simple: Massachusetts was the only state that did much of anything to enforce the law, and made it easy to comply with by providing better access to industrial composting services. That helped the biggest contributors to food waste — grocery stores and restaurant chains — understand what they had to do and have access to the services they needed to do it.

What it means: Massachusetts reduced food waste by 7% since the law went into effect, while other states saw drops of only 1.5%. So, while the study’s authors said these waste reduction laws had “no discernible effect on total landfill waste,” it’s important to note that they also very clearly stated that there was little to no enforcement of the laws, nor is there a simple way to track food waste. The study’s authors had to rely on overall waste reporting, making the assumption that reducing food wast would result in a reduction of overall waste. Other factors, of course, could have contributed.

What happens now? Food and agriculture make up more than 25% of the pollution that’s driving climate change. As the food rots in landfills, it also releases methane gas, a significant cause of global warming, so reducing the amount of waste that ends up in landfills could have a strong impact on the pace of climate change. This study makes it clear, though, that any new regulations must have some teeth if they’re going to have any meaningful impact.