STATEMENT: Massachusetts setting pace on reducing food waste

BOSTON — A report published last week in Science described Massachusetts as the only state among several studied where food waste bans designed to reduce waste are working. Advocates from MASSPIRG, Clean Water Action Massachusetts and other groups have spent decades getting Massachusetts to embrace a statewide goal of zero waste and launched a campaign to reduce food waste earlier this year.

In response, leaders from the two groups released the following statements;

“We toss more than 1 million pounds of food waste into landfills and incinerators in our state, causing climate change and several types of pollution. The good news is we have a solution: Divert the waste from landfills and reduce the rest of it,” MASSPIRG Executive Director Janet Domenitz said. “Our recent report, How to Reduce Food Waste in Massachusetts, published with Frontier Group and Clean Water Action Massachusetts, makes a set of practical and within-reach recommendations which will hopefully get even more attention now that the national spotlight is on Massachusetts. Let’s keep leading on reducing food waste.”

“Massachusetts is proving that food waste bans work, when they’re simple and they are enforced. These bans are an important tool to reduce waste and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change,” Clean Water Action National Field Director Cindy Luppi said. “We can do even better, and we look forward to working with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection  to make that happen.”