Bans on sending food waste into landfills haven’t worked in any state except Massachusetts, according to a new story, and even there the result wasn’t overwhelming. The Washington Post has a story.
The study identified several factors that could explain Massachusetts’ success.
First, the state had built the most extensive network of food-waste-composting sites, making it relatively simple and affordable for businesses to divert food fromlandfills and incinerators. Massachusetts’ law had no special exemptions and was easy for business owners to understand. Massachusetts also increased the cost of not following the rules and had conducted the most compliance checks.
“By contrast, there is almost no enforcement in other states,” the study’s authors wrote. The effect of other four bans, or lack of effect, “suggests widespread noncompliance with US food waste bans — i.e., that food waste is still being landfilled despite the bans,” they wrote.
Vermont, which has rolled out a strict ban down to the household level, must be chagrined. But there’s a caveat: The study also did not analyze results after 2018 because of pandemic-related data complications, which left out states’ more recent efforts.
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