Oregon lawmakers consider requiring large-scale food producers to compost

Oregon lawmakers are considering legislation that would require large food producers, processors, preparers and sellers, including schools, hospitals and large restaurants, to compost their food waste. 

House Bill 3018 also would require food products sold in Oregon to have simplified labels letting consumers know when food is safe to eat to help reduce the amount of food households throw away, reports the Statesman Journal. 

“Ensuring that food in Oregon is consumed or composted, not wasted or put into a landfill, will protect our environment, mitigate methane and other environmentally harmful greenhouse gases and support more sustainable and resilient food systems,” Abby Boudouris, senior legislative analyst for the state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), said in written testimony as part of the proposed bill.

The bill would require entities that create more than 1,000 pounds of food waste per week at a single site to arrange for that waste to be composted, beginning in 2027. The threshold would drop to 500 pounds per week in 2028. 

The legislation also would require food sold in Oregon with date labels to use specific uniform terms and prohibit labels with the phrase “sell by,” beginning on July 1, 2026.

The bill’s backers say people often confuse the term “sell by” with an expiration or use-by date. The Oregon DEQ estimates that 71 percent of food thrown away by households could have been safely eaten.

The Statesman Journal reports that the legislation faces opposition from some entities that would be impacted, including the state’s hospitals, food processors and garbage collectors. Critics say Oregon’s composting facilities can’t handle the additional waste, with only 12 of the state’s approximately 50 composting facilities accepting food waste.

The Association of Oregon Hospitals has asked that the state’s hospitals be exempt from the proposed legislation. It says the hospitals cannot afford the additional expense of outfitting kitchens, waste collection systems, and staff training.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Courtney Neron, is working on an amendment to address some of those concerns. Expected changes include:

• Extending the full implementation date to 2030, and introducing the requirements in three tiers, starting in 2028 with the largest producers. About 1,000 entities would be impacted in the first year, about 1,000 in the second year, and about 2,000 in the third year.
• Adding a four-year exemption for entities in rural communities that don’t have a composting facility within 75 miles.
• Using a $28 million DEQ grant toward increasing composting facilities’ capacity.