Maine legislators approve food waste recycling mandate

The Maine House of Representatives has approved a bill that would keep commercial food waste out of the landfill by requiring some large producers to donate edible leftovers and recycle food scraps at Maine’s five organic recycling facilities, the Press Herald reports.

The House voted 76-64 to adopt the bill, which now heads to the Senate for consideration.

“The bill has the ability to help reach the state goal of reducing solid waste below a half-ton per capita,” says Rep. Stanley Zeigler Jr., who introduced the bill. “Unfortunately, right now, a lot of our waste is food.”

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Maine’s solid waste policy calls for reduction when possible, followed by reuse, recycling or composting, with landfill or incineration used as a last resort. By diverting scraps from the waste stream, the bill would save landfill space and reduce municipal tipping fees.

Food waste producers would have to donate edible food before resorting to agricultural use, such as feeding animals, or to recycling, such as composting or anaerobic digestion for the production of fertilizer, biogas or animal bedding.

Critics of the bill include the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, which argues that the legislation is well-intentioned but ahead of its time for a state that lacks the infrastructure to make it successful. Critics say most large-scale food waste producers already recycle what they can.

If the bill is passed, enforcement would begin in 2026 with businesses generating 2 tons of food waste per week and located within 20 miles of an organics recycler. In 2028, enforcement would broaden to producers who generate 1 ton of food waste per week and located within 25 miles of a recycler.

Maine is the only New England state that does not have a food waste law on the books. In 2022, almost 60,000 tons of food waste was sent to Maine landfills, producing more than 2,000 tons of methane, according to the report.