New Tool Tracks US Food-Waste Legislation Landscape
4 min read
Divert’s Food Waste Legislative Tracker offers a state-by-state look, as well as
numerous touchpoints for anyone interested in food policy to get involved.
Massachusetts-based food-waste tech provider Divert
has launched a first-of-its-kind policy tracker that documents new and pending
food-waste legislation across the US.
The Food Waste Legislative
Tracker
is a comprehensive look at the legislative process across all 50 states,
Puerto Rico and Washington, DC and meant to be a first stop for those
interested in learning more about national food policy. The living Google Sheet
details where waste legislation is moving along and who is responsible for
shepherding the bills through state governments.
“We needed to have a firm understanding of the legislation in place where our
customers are,” Divert VP of Public Affairs Chris
Thomas told Sustainable
Brands® (SB).
A three-pronged approach to fighting food waste
Divert’s approach to diverting food waste is three-fold. First, the company
helps big food-waste generators (such as grocery retailers) assess their waste
output through software- and data-driven infrastructure. This information helps
these customers figure out where they’re generating the most waste by analyzing
several pieces of a particular business unit. Second, Divert has an
“optimization solution” that helps companies understand how they can best
leverage salvageable food and direct it towards the most effective donation
plans. Lastly, the company’s proprietary anaerobic digestion
process
turns food waste into renewable sources of electricity and natural
gas.
Corporate political responsibility: Lessons learned in 2024 and support for 2025 and beyond
Since 2021, the SB community has explored what it means for companies to use their political influence responsibly in an increasingly polarized world. What have we learned? Join us for an interactive “community café” to dive into this — as well as the Erb Institute’s new CPR Decision Tool & Executive Conversation Guide and related case studies — Monday, Oct. 14, at SB’24 San Diego.
Thomas told SB the company’s food-waste diversion technology is used by almost
7,000 stores across the country, and Divert has a larger goal of having 30
waste-processing facilities within 100 miles of 80 percent of the US population.
According to public relations director Caroline
Legg, Divert processes 465
million pounds of wasted food annually and has also helped facilitate the
donation of more than 14 million pounds of food.
The Food Waste Legislative Tracker is a partnership between Divert, the Zero
Food Waste Coalition and the
Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic
(FLPC).
FLPC students helped research and gather information to help build
out the tracker with guidance from Divert. Harvard FLPC clinical instructor
Heather Latino says
students will maintain a support role in updating the tracker alongside Divert;
the goal is to update it at least quarterly.
“Our role is to build these resources, answer specific questions — and not
necessarily with a policy agenda in mind in a specific state,” she added.
The tool is also meant to highlight Divert’s work in advocating for and moving
forward bills including Washington House Bill
2301 and California Senate Bill
1426. In
March, the Washington State Legislature passed Bill 2301 to refine and
improve upon a 2022 law that established a long-term approach to waste
diversion. It also created new provisions in light of the EPA’s recently
launched Wasted Food
Scale, which
changed standards for food donation and
reuse.
In California, SB 1426 was introduced to establish diversion goals for various
jurisdictions around the state and to complement various waste-diversion laws
already in place — but it did not make it off the Senate floor. But Washington
Gov. Jay Inslee
signed
HB 2301 in March.
Everyone can help reduce food waste
All parties involved say they see education as the big winner out of this
tracker launch. It complements an existing state policy
finder by food-waste think tank
ReFED and offers numerous touchpoints for anyone
interested in food policy to get involved.
As Divert senior manager of public affairs Holly
Yanai pointed out, “It’s important to
remember there are a ton of different stakeholders coming in at different points
in the supply chain.”
She says all parties tried to break this down into actionable pieces — whether
that’s simply learning about the state of waste diversion locally or how readers
can contact their local elected officials to help move new waste regulations
through the legislative process.
The tracker will also help Divert understand where it can leverage its resources
to advocate for new policies. Yanai noted that there’s ample opportunity to find
solutions that are state-specific instead of a “one-size-fits-all approach.”
Some of this progress is also riding on the outcomes of key elections up and
down the ballot across the country this November. If less environmentally
focused officials land in office, much of this work could stall; and Thomas — a
tenured public policy professional — acknowledged he is unsure where things may
land, given the tracker is so new.
“We’ll have more to say as to which types of policies we’re able to affect, as
we’re still gathering insights from those checking it out for the first time,”
he said.
