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…
WCVB reports on the awards that the EPA recently announced which recognize organizations for their food waste reduction efforts. Four of the fourteen organizations that received awards nationwide are located in New England. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection was recognized for food waste outreach and technical assistance provided through the RecyclingWorks program. Salem State…
The MetroWest Daily News published an article about The Food Recovery Act, which was introduced this week. This bill outlines a series of strategies for reducing food waste on a national level including expanding tax deductions and liability protections for businesses and institutions that donate food. Massachusetts, which implemented a commercial organics waste ban in…
The Mass DEP just announced a new grant program, the Recycling Business Development Grant (RBDG), intended to help Massachusetts recycling processors and manufacturers create sustainable markets for eligible materials, and to add value to municipal and business recycling efforts. Selected applicants can receive grant awards up to $400,000. The application deadlines are: Round 1 –…
The MetroWest Daily News published an article about the Food Donation Guidance recently posted to the RecyclingWorks website. RecyclingWorks is a program funded by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) to help business create or expand recycling, composting, and other waste diversion strategies. Since the MassDEP established the Commercial Organics Waste Ban in 2014,…
Bumper 2 Bumper Magazine is a free biweekly listing of used cars and other motorized vehicles distributed to over 500 locations throughout Western New England. This summer, Bumper 2 Bumper called the RecyclingWorks hotline when the company that had been recycling their surplus magazines into cellulose insulation moved. RecyclingWorks staff connected Bumper 2 Bumper Magazine…
