The bill establishes a multipronged approach to help Washington achieve its food waste reduction goals, echoing the U.S. EPA’s latest Wasted Food Scale priorities.

Soure: WasteDive

Source: Biocycle

Odor complaints and runoff concerns led to closer scrutiny and the determination that the facility’s liquid digestate could not be legally authorized for land application through the solid waste program.  

Source: MichiganAdvance.com

Rural communities are concerned about the growing role of fossil fuel companies in farm operations for out-of-state anaerobic digestion projects.

Source: Minnpost

Source: BioCycle.com

• 58% of the methane from landfills comes from food waste

• 61% of the total methane produced is released to the atmosphere

• For each metric ton of food waste that goes into a landfill you get about 0.86 tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) released to the atmosphere as methane — effectively a 1:1 equivalent

• In 2020 landfilled food scraps released 55 million tons of CO2e to the atmosphere

Source: Waste Dive

Source: BioCycle.com

Molding and plant growth trials, along with product characteristic analyses, were done with output from two different kitchen food waste dehydrator units and compared to “real” compost.

An estimated $600 billion worth of food is lost during or just after harvest. Can manufacturers and grocers do anything about it? Definitely—and it will be good for business, people, and the planet.

The U.S. waste and recycling industry was worth an estimated $91 billion in revenue during 2022, according to data from research and consulting firm Waste Business Journal, up from $82 billion in 2021.

Source: BioCycle

ReFED’s analysis places the value of food that went unsold or uneaten at $444 billion in 2021, approximately 2% of U.S. GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

Expansion of commercial food waste recycling capacity recently received a big boost when the city of Oxnard approved permits needed for a new processing operation off Mountain View Avenue.

Our business partner Agromin secured permits for its Mountain View Organic Waste Processing Facility as it prepares to launch a facility that can process source-separated commercial food waste.

In the works since 2017, the facility will be able to process up to 300 tons a day of source-separated organic waste, helping to convert it into animal feed, organic fertilizer or bioenergy.

To meet the challenges of California Senate Bill 1383, which mandates recycling of food and other organic waste to reduce climate-harming methane gas emissions from landfills, Agromin has spent years working with Harrison and local officials to launch the new Mountain View facility.

Mountain View will significantly expand our recycling capacity, as will Agromin’s project to expand its Limoneira compost facility in the Santa Clara River Valley to handle commercial and residential food waste.

Source: Waste Dive

Los Angeles has been working to scale up its food waste collection program in recent years, in part to comply with California’s SB 1383 law which now requires local jurisdictions to offer organics collection service. That policy aims to reduce organic waste disposal 75% by 2025, which has been described by CalRecycle as an “uphill battle” in part due to pandemic setbacks.

Stefanie Valentic • Waste360.com

Food-focused businesses such as grocers face a particular set of challenges to meet compliance. CalRecycle's Environmental Program Manager Kyle Pogue recently provided context about SB 1383 and the ramifications and requirements for California grocers.

On January 8, 2021, the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), as the solid waste Enforcement Agency for Stanislaus County, received a Registration Permit Application for the subject facility. The Registration Permit Application was submitted for a new Medium Volume Transfer/Processing Facility pursuant to Title 14, California Code of Regulations Section 17403.6. The Registration Permit Application was accepted as complete and correct for filing on February 4, 2021. The Registration Permit was issued on February 9, 2021.

For more information, click on the Read More link below.

CalRecycle has published new SB 1383 webpages which include a new homepage, documents included in the final rulemaking package as such the final and approved regulatory text, webpages dedicated to collection, procurement, food recovery, and ?resources for jurisdictions, food donors, and food recovery organizations and services. The webpages will be updated as new resources are made available.

Here is the link: https://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/organics/slcp?

Please direct all questions, comments, and concerns to 75percent@calrecycle.ca.gov

Amanda Little • Bloomberg News

Even before COVID-19, Americans, on average, were tossing away more than a pound of uneaten food per person each day, amounting to some 400 pounds of food thrown out annually. That’s far more than any other wealthy country — about 50% more food waste per capita than France and nearly double that of the U.K. According to U.S. government estimates, the cost of U.S. food waste comes out to $161 billion annually. The environmental costs are abysmal.

Each year, the California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA) organizes one of the most comprehensive and informative conferences dedicated to resource management issues in California and beyond. CRRA is well known for its training and educational offerings since the early 1970s. The Annual Conference and Trade Show attracts over 600 individuals annually and showcases an estimated 30 sessions each year with over 100 industry experts as presenters.

By Dane Campbell and Evan Williams • Waste Advantage Magazine

The subject of recycling, processing and handling organic waste has been a leading-edge subject inside the waste industry for many years. Roughly 35 percent of the weight being hauled and dumped in landfills is an organic fraction. There is a focus to reduce the amount of organic waste from landfills, mostly due to methane pollution. Many companies in the U.S. want to help this situation and have many different ideas, but without much experience, it can be difficult to select the right solutions.

Arlene Karidis • Waste360.com

The California Office of Administrative Law (OAL) has disapproved a rulemaking package of the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) that contains proposed regulations for implementation of SB-1383, a law set to take effect in January 2022 that mandates diversion of organic waste from landfills to reduce methane gas generation.