How to Reduce Food Waste in Massachusetts

Massachusetts disposes of nearly a million tons of wasted food every year, most of it going to incinerators and landfills, where it produces greenhouse gases that worsen global warming. Much of that food is edible and could be used to feed people. The rest could be composted to help build the health of our soils.

Proven, common-sense strategies exist to reduce the amount of wasted food in our trash. But, despite recent progress, Massachusetts is falling short of our food waste reduction goals. The time has come for Massachusetts to invest in food waste prevention and food recovery, prioritize composting, and increase the amount of food waste diverted from landfills and incinerators, especially from residents. 

Food waste in Massachusetts is a big problem. 

Food waste accounts for about one-fifth of Massachusetts’ trash – approximately 930,000 tons sent each year to landfills and incinerators. That wasted food contributes to some of Massachusetts’ biggest problems: 

• Food waste is a significant source of global warming emissions. When buried in landfills, wasted food and other organic materials produce methane – a highly potent greenhouse gas. The burning and burial of municipal solid waste (including food waste) was responsible for 1.5 million metric tons (CO2-equivalent) of greenhouse gas emissions in Massachusetts in 2020, or about 2% of the state’s total emissions.
• Solid waste disposal is increasingly costly – Massachusetts has the highest landfill tipping fees in the nation. Collecting food waste for composting or anaerobic digestion can be far less expensive than landfilling or incinerating it.
•  Food waste is also a waste of resources. Growing, processing and transporting food consumes energy and nutrients and often inflicts harm on the environment. Wasting less food can reduce those impacts. Wasted food also costs households money – the average American family of four spends $1,500 per year on food that is not eaten.

Massachusetts has made progress in reducing food waste, and communities are reaping the benefits.

• The total amount of food waste diverted from landfills and incinerators in the commonwealth nearly doubled between 2016 and 2022, increasing from 190,000 tons to 360,000 tons per year.
• The commonwealth has dramatically expanded its capacity to process organic waste, with approximately 600,000 tons per year of anaerobic digestion capacity, along with additional capacity for food donation and composting.
• As of 2023, 89 of Massachusetts’ 351 cities and towns had some form of municipal food waste collection, up from just 24 municipalities in 2014. More than 550,000 Massachusetts households had access to food waste collection programs as of 2023.
• Despite this progress, Massachusetts fell 20% short of its 2020 goal of diverting 450,000 tons of food waste from disposal. Nevertheless, the commonwealth has established an even more ambitious goal for 2030, aiming to reduce food waste disposal by 780,000 tons per year – or more than double the amount of food waste diverted over the course of a decade. 

Massachusetts food waste diversion vs. goals [1]

Photo by TPIN staff | TPIN

There are many proven, readily available strategies that Massachusetts can use to reduce disposal of food waste, but Massachusetts’ track record in implementing the most beneficial strategies is mixed.

The EPA’s Wasted Food Scale highlights the most – and least – beneficial options for addressing food waste. These include:

Figure ES-2: EPA’s Wasted Food Scale

Photo by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | Public Domain

• Prevention – The most beneficial strategy for reducing food waste is prevention – not buying more food than we need. Public education and social media campaigns – such as the “Save More than Food” campaign run by the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio – have made a measurable difference in the amount of food that households throw away. While Massachusetts has plans to expand public education about food waste through the Recycle Smart MA program, that effort has yet to fully get off the ground.
• Donating or “upcycling” edible food that can be used to feed others – Produce, packaged foods and restaurant meals that would otherwise be wasted can be repurposed to feed people in our communities. Massachusetts’ commercial organic waste ban has created an incentive for companies to donate excess food, and a rich ecosystem of food recovery and rescue organizations has emerged to deliver that food to those who need it. But the commonwealth does not provide tax credits for food donations or provide other supports or incentives that could enable food donation to achieve even greater scale.
• Feeding animals – Food that cannot be rescued for human use can often be used to feed animals. Massachusetts increased the amount of food waste used to feed animals by 64% between 2016 and 2022.
• Composting food scraps – Composting, the process of recycling organic matter through decomposition in the presence of oxygen, reduces greenhouse gas emissions from organic waste and produces valuable fertilizer to help build healthy soils. Massachusetts has numerous composting businesses and a long legacy of home composting, but the amount of food waste composted in the commonwealth has declined since 2016. Composting has received less consistent financial support than anaerobic digestion, and Massachusetts composters have struggled to obtain the space and contamination-free streams of organic waste they need to grow.
• Sending food waste to anaerobic digesters, facilities that break down organic matter in the absence of oxygen, produces methane gas that can be burned for energy and residual material that can be composted or applied to crops. The amount of food waste processed at anaerobic digesters in Massachusetts increased more than four-fold between 2016 and 2022, the result of aggressive state financial support, including through the commonwealth’s clean energy programs. But the practice of sending food waste to wastewater treatment plants for anaerobic digestion poses serious concerns that the resulting “biosolids” may be contaminated with chemicals including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals,” concerns that have led to a ban on land application of biosolids in Maine.

To meet the commonwealth’s food waste reduction goals, slow global warming, and repurpose excess food to successfully feed people and build healthy soils, Massachusetts should follow the example of leading states and take the following steps:

• Set ambitious goals and follow through. Massachusetts’ food waste reduction targets once led the nation, but we have since fallen behind. California and Vermont, for example, require diversion of all food waste from landfills and have taken other important steps to ensure that excess food is used first to keep people and soils healthy. Massachusetts should commit to diverting all food scraps from disposal as soon as possible and invest in the infrastructure needed to support that policy. Massachusetts should also pursue an ambitious program of preventing food waste.
• Target the “top” of the wasted food scale. Massachusetts successfully scaled up anaerobic digester capacity in the 2010s, showing that a coherent strategy to address disposal of food waste, backed by significant financial resources, can bring about rapid change. Massachusetts should apply a similar approach – and make a similar investment – in efforts to prevent food waste at the source and ensure that healthy, edible food that would otherwise be wasted is provided to people who need it.
• Focus on composting. Composting is a vital tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and restore the health of our soils. Over the past decade, however, composting has been supplanted by anaerobic digestion as the primary destination of separated organic waste. To revitalize composting, the commonwealth should provide consistent financial support for capital investments in composting facilities, provide ongoing financial support similar to that provided to anaerobic digestion facilities, and take steps to expand composting infrastructure, including the siting of new facilities in proximity to sources of food waste.
• Keep toxics out of the food waste stream. Anaerobic digesters at sewage treatment plants produce “biosolids” that are sold as fertilizer. In recent years, some Massachusetts cities and towns have sent their food waste to be digested at these sewage treatment plants, potentially contaminating what would otherwise be a relatively “clean” feedstock. Massachusetts should reduce the diversion of food waste to sewage treatment plants, take clear steps to ensure the purity of food waste sent to composting operations, and adopt clear standards for PFAS and other potential worrisome contaminants in biosolids.
•  Expand food waste collection. Massachusetts has more capacity for organic waste processing than it currently uses, and the state will not meet its ambitious food waste diversion goals without a massive increase in food scrap collection. The commonwealth should provide additional resources to help cities and towns launch food scrap collection programs, improve participation in existing programs through consistent statewide public education efforts, and consider banning all food waste from disposal – including residential food waste – and support infrastructure and policies to implement the ban. 
• Provide adequate funding. Achieving Massachusetts’ food waste reduction goals will require significant, ongoing investment. Massachusetts should identify consistent, reliable, dedicated sources of funding to support the transition to zero food waste.

Notes

[1] Diversion: John Fischer, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Food Waste Diversion Progress and Trends, presentation to MassDEP Organics Subcommittee meeting March 14, 2024, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20240521194448/https://www.mass.gov/doc/presentation-massdep-march-2024/download; goal: 2020: Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, MassDEP Food Waste Updates, presentation to New Hampshire Solid Waste Working Group, April 28, 2023, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20240521200324/https://www.des.nh.gov/sites/g/files/ehbemt341/files/documents/20230428-mass-food-waste-ban-update.pdf; 2030: Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Organics Action Plan, November 2023, archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20240426052635/https://www.mass.gov/doc/massachusetts-organics-action-plan-november-2023/download.