Maryland has made a lot of great goals to reduce food waste and increase organic recycling programs like composting. Reaching these goals isn't just good for reducing waste: it will improve food security in our communities, reduce greenhouse gas emissions from food rotting in landfills or burning in incinerators, create good green jobs, and help farmers to diversify their income through composting and reduce use of climate-polluting synthetic fertilizers. The state government is also working hard to reduce methane emissions from landfills through creating more stringent regulations on landfill management; keeping the methane-producing organic waste (like food scraps) out of getting into our landfills has to be the first step.
But we hear from businesses, schools, and community groups in every corner of the state working to set up food waste reduction, rescue, and composting programs that a major limiting factor is funding. Maryland has no dedicated funding streams for reducing and diverting food waste.
That's where HB1318 comes in. This great bill creates a Wasted Food Reduction and Diversion Fund to support smart programs to keep food waste out of our landfills. That can look like anything from giving schools and food pantries money for fridges to keep food safe and usable for donation, helping farmers set up on-farm composting systems to get food waste from schools back into the soil, helping new composting businesses build the infrastructure they need, and supporting community groups or local governments setting up food scrap collection programs. This will all be funded through a modest $2 per ton surcharge on waste thrown away at landfills and incinerators - a common-sense polluter-pays measure to raise funds without impacting the state budget.
Take Action! Tell your representatives to support HB1318 to make more funds available for composting and other Zero Waste practices, and keep our food from being burned and buried.