The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) is accepting applications for the Commonwealth Organics-to-Energy Program. The funding supports technologies that convert source-separated organic waste into electricity, thermal energy, or compressed gas for vehicle fuel. Applications are currently being accepted for three types of projects: Implementation and Pilot Project Construction Funding. Due March 22. Feasibility Studies. Due…
Last fall, the USDA and EPA posted a video about their goal to reduce wasted food in the US by fifty percent by 2030. In the video, Tom Vilsack (Agriculture Secretary) and Gina McCarthy (EPA) discuss the issue of wasted food and the importance of connecting surplus food to those who need it. Currently, nearly…
BioCycle Magazine recently featured the organics diversion program at Deerfield Academy. This independent boarding school has been diverting compostable waste from their dining hall for years. Recently, the school has been expanding efforts to divert organic waste across the campus as part of an effort to overhaul the campus-wide recycling program. The school calls this…
The Telegram reports on Food Recovery Network chapters at the College of the Holy Cross, Becker College, and Nichols College. The Food Recovery Network (FRN) was founded in 2011 by students at the University of Maryland who recognized how much dining hall food was being wasted. Currently, FRN has more than 150 chapters at colleges…
The results of the 2015 GameDay Recycling Challenge have been posted. MassLive reports that UMass Amherst received first and second place awards for their recycling efforts. UMass students collected recycling at three tailgating parties at McGuirk Alumni Stadium this fall. UMass recycled 18.693 pounds of materials. They placed first in the Mid-American Conference for…
The Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic has updated the tax incentive fact sheet for Massachusetts businesses that donate food. These updates incorporate recent changes to federal tax code that increase the incentive for businesses to donate edible food to social service organizations. The updated fact sheet is available on the Food Donation Guidance for…
In November, The Take Away interviewed Ashley Stanley of Lovin’ Spoonfuls, a Boston-based food rescue organization, about how food donation can help reduce food waste. Lovin’ Spoonfuls collects food that businesses would otherwise throw away and distributes to social service organizations. The interview highlights how local and state waste bans, like the Massachusetts Commercial Organics…
A blog post by the Harvard Law School’s Food Law and Policy Clinic details recent changes the tax code around food donations. Changes to the tax code allow for businesses other than C-Corporations to receive an enhanced tax deduction when making qualifying food donations, and make the deductions a permanent part of the tax code.…
An article in the Boston College student publication, The Gavel, describes the college’s food donation program. Every Bite Counts (eBC) is a student volunteer group that has been helping donate leftover dining hall food since 2005. Five nights each week, student volunteers package and label leftovers from dinner. The group works with Lovin’ Spoonfuls Food…
MetroWest Daily News reports on a range of food waste reduction efforts going on across the MetroWest region. The Massachusetts Commercial Organics Waste Ban, which went into effect in October of 2014, has motivated increased interest in diverting surplus food and food scraps from landfills and incinerators. The article describes examples of businesses and institutions…
