The Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic has posted three legal fact sheets for food donation in Massachusetts. The topics include: Date Labeling Tax Incentives Liability Protections As long as food is donated in good faith and date labeling rules are followed, there are ample liability protections for food donors. All businesses qualify for some…
An article in MassLive describes how the Boston Public Market, which opened this week, will donate surplus food and compost food scraps. The Boston Public Market is a year-round marketplace for local food with over 35 vendors. Two food rescue organizations, The Greater Boston Food Bank and Lovin’ Spoonfulls, will help distribute surplus food from…
An article in the Boston Globe last week featured three small green businesses in the Boston area. One of the businesses, CERO, is a cooperative organic waste-hauling service that started in conjunction with the Massachusetts commercial organics waste ban. CERO, which serves Dorchester, Roxbury and East Boston, was founded by five people from the community.…
A recent article in E&E Publishing describes how new laws, like Massachusetts’ Commercial Food Waste Ban, are helping to increase the portion of surplus food that is donated to charity. While a large portion of food diverted from the waste stream is composted, many organizations are helping connect food producers to food banks. In the…
A recent article in LeanPath explains the many hidden costs to foodservice operators of wasted food. In addition to the cost of the ingredients, there is also the energy and water to store and prepare the food, the labor to prepare it, the disposal costs to get rid of it, and the “cost” of lost…
The National Restaurant Association Show in May featured a number of products to help restaurants reduce food waste. These included everything from equipment to automatically capture grease from sinks and dishwashers to compostable birchwood utensils and wheat straw containers. RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts assists businesses and institutions with recycling and food waste reduction through composting and food donation.…
A report by the Green Sports Alliance (GSA) and Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) features 20 professional sports venues across North America that are implementing more sustainable food service and disposal practices. Many of these venues have programs to donate or compost excess food. The report includes tips for starting composting programs at sports venues.…
The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) recently announced $1.1 million in funding for three projects that will convert organic materials into energy. The awards will support the development of anaerobic digestion facilities in Bourne, Freetown and Hadley. Harvest Power, Bourne, MA: $400,000 to design and build an anaerobic digester for processing wastewater treatment sludge, food waste, fats,…
This Berkshire Eagle article tells the story of seven restaurants and one market in Lenox that have combined forces to compost their food scraps. Alta, Church Street Cafe, Frankie’s Ristorante Italiano, The Old Heritage Tavern, Table Six, Firefly, Spoon and Lenox Natural Foods have contracted with Empire Zero Waste to bring their uneaten and leftover…
A revised version of a guide to On-Site Systems for Managing Food Waste, compiled by RecyclingWorks, is now available on our website on the “Options for Complying with the Commercial Organics Waste Ban” page. This comprehensive, 88-page guide includes information about cost-effective ways to comply with the Massachusetts Commercial Organics Waste Ban on-site, such as…
