Advanced BioFuels USA

by Nora Goldstein and Kat McCarthy (BioCycle Magazine)  NRDC commissioned a survey of food waste hierarchy-related policies in 12 states across 3 regions. The publicly available reports are an invaluable resource. — The NRDC’s (Natural Resources Defense Council) Food Matters initiative partners with cities to “achieve meaningful reductions” in food waste through the adoption of policies and programs that focus on preventing food from going to waste, rescuing surplus food, and recycling food scraps. Building on its experience working with individual cities such as Nashville, Baltimore, and Denver to minimize food waste, Food Matters moved into a new phase in 2020, addressing municipal food waste while leveraging regional synergies. In the Food Matters Regional Initiative, city representatives network with one another, with NRDC, and with local partner organizations to set goals, develop programs, and identify regional strategies that help maximize their resources.

A key component of the Food Matters initiative is peer-to-peer learning and knowledge sharing — providing a network in which best practices can be shared and evolved. To get a handle on best practices related to policies and regulations, NRDC commissioned the Center for EcoTechnology (CET), the Harvard Food Law and Policy Center (FLPC) and BioCycle Connect, LLC (working with CET) to survey food waste-related policies in 12 states across three regions of the U.S. (corresponding to the states represented in its Food Matters Regional Initiative). The three regions are the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Great Lakes, and include these states: Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. (Mid-Atlantic); Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee (Southeast); Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin (Great Lakes).

Working closely with NRDC, CET, FLPC and BioCycle compiled an inventory and gap analysis of existing food waste-related policies for each state, divided into ten categories across the food recovery hierarchy: Organics disposal bans and recycling laws; date labeling; food donation liability protections; tax incentives for food rescue; organics processing infrastructure permitting; food safety policies for share tables; food systems plans, goals, and targets; plans targeting solid waste; climate action goals; and grants and incentive programs related to food waste reduction. Whereas the inventory provides an overview of existing state policies, the gap analysis identifies policy opportunities for furthering food waste reduction.  READ MORE

BGE gains regulatory approval to allow use of RNG on system (BGE/Biomass Magazine)