MassDEP: Commercial Food Waste Ban created 900+ jobs, $175M in economic activity

BOSTON – The Massachusetts Commercial Food Waste Ban has created more than 900 jobs and stimulated $175 million in economic activity across the state during its first two years of implementation, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection said last week.

MassDEP issued a report detailing the economic impact of the food waste ban, which requires any commercial organization that disposes of one ton or more a week of food waste to pull it out of the waste stream and reuse it, send it for composting or animal feed operations or use it in an anaerobic digestion facility that produces renewable energy. The ban went into effort on Oct. 1, 2014.

Massachusetts haulers are collecting an estimated 270,000 tons of food materials annually, above Massachusetts’ baseline estimate of 100,000 tons of food waste diversion prior to implementation of the commercial organics waste ban. Jobs in this sector increased 150 percent between 2010 and 2015, and these businesses project an additional 50 percent job growth from 2016 to 2017, according to the report, which was conducted by ICF International Inc. of Cambridge, Mass.
“Massachusetts’ leadership has helped keep food out of landfills and incinerators, while driving the growth of innovative new Massachusetts-based businesses,” Gov. Charlie Baker said in a statement.

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