New York State alone spends $36 million per year solely to transport and dispose of excess food. But there’s good news: a new law banning landfilling of food waste in New York State is estimated to provide a net economic benefit of nearly $22 million per year, along with recovery of 52 million new meals a year with a 10 percent increase in food donation to 2.8 million food insecure New Yorkers. Recently, New York became only the sixth state in the country to enact a statewide food waste disposal ban when Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently signed the Food Recovery and Recycling Act. What are the Requirements of the Food Recovery and Recycling Act? 1) All businesses that generate 2 or more tons of food waste per week at a single location, which will include supermarkets, large foodservice businesses, higher education institutions, hotels, correctional facilities and sports or entertainment venues, are required to donate unsold but edible food whenever possible. 2) Businesses that both meet this waste generation threshold and are within 25 miles of an organics recycler with sufficient capacity will also be required to recycle their food waste. More >>
