July 2019 Advocacy Update

A new report from the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic and Center for EcoTechnology titled "Bans and Beyond: Designing and Implementing Organic Waste Bans and Mandatory Organics Recycling Laws" is hot off the presses.

This toolkit has been on the LEAC wishlist, and we are thrilled that it is done. As states and local jurisdictions contemplate creating or expanding organics bans and other policies to help grow the organics recycling infrastructure, this will be an invaluable aide. Download the report here, and register for the July 30 webinar here.

Recent Policy Activity

NEW JERSEY: We sent a letter to Governor Phil Murphy urging him to veto NJ A3726/S1206. This bill was originally intended to require “large food waste generators to separate and recycle food waste,” which we supported. But New Jersey legislators got up to their old shenanigans and included landfills with landfill gas systems and garbage incinerators as food waste recycling facilities. 

GEORGIA: We joined Georgia Recycling Coalition, the Georgia Chapter of SWANA, the Georgia Green Industry Association, Synagro, Erth Products and others in submitting comments to the Department of Agriculture opposing proposed changes to soil amendment regulations that would effectively ban biosolids beneficial use. 

CALIFORNIA: California continues to push the boundaries of organics recycling, simultaneously pushing for more waste diversion and making it harder and more expensive to do so! Keeping track of it all is the full-time job of our LEAC Committee Chair Neil Edgar in his “day job” as executive director of the California Compost Coalition. Read their monthly newsletter or visit the California Chapter (Association of Compost Producers) website to stay on top of what’s happening.