For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Anjuli.Ramos@sierraclub.org
Food Waste Bill Released in Asm. Environment Committee
The Assembly Environment and Solid Waste released A1439(Kennedy). The bill requires each solid waste management district to develop a strategy in solid waste management plan to reduce food waste. Specifically, the developed and implemented strategy should reduce, by 2030, the amount of food waste generated annually in the district by at least 50 percent of the amount generated in the year this bill is enacted into law. Anjuli Ramos- Busot, New Jersey Chapter Director of the Sierra Club released the following statement:
“This legislation will help curb New Jersey’s food waste problem. We currently waste between 30-40% of our food supply each year. Requiring food waste generators to compost food and increase the donation of surplus edible foods will help get this debris out of the waste stream and out of landfills. Food waste gives off methane as it decomposes in landfills, and it can spoil recyclables when \mixed in the stream. Reducing food waste in general, and specifically separately collecting compostable materials and redirecting to composters or biodigesters will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state.”
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About the Sierra Club: The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information about our work in New Jersey, visit www.sierraclub.org/new-jersey.