Could what is happening in Massachusetts be coming to your state anytime soon? What I am referring to are proposed regulations that would ban commercial establishments—hotels included—from throwing away food waste. I recently spoke with Greg Cooper, director of consumer programs for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and he told me the DEP expects the regulations to be implemented by the middle of 2014. “My feeling is that it is highly unlikely it will not happen,” Cooper said.
The DEP is currently in the process of holding a series of stakeholder meetings in order to develop a framework of what the ban will look like. Those discussions are taking place monthly. The framework for the regulations will done by fall, followed by some time for public comment. The regulation will be in draft form by the beginning of 2013.
How many of you with food service operations recycle/compost 100 percent of your food waste? I suspect there are not many of you out there. Cooper told me the ban will have several important benefits: protect the state’s limited disposal capacity, save businesses from having to pay high solid waste disposal fees, and help fuel a series of plants throughout the state that will generate renewable energy through anaerobic digestion.
About 100,000 tons of organic matter is currently composted in Massachusetts each year. That is just a small fraction of the 1.5 million tons disposed of annually. The DEP’s goal is for an additional 350,000 tons of organic food waste to be diverted from landfills by 2020.
Composting Infrastructure Already in Place
“We have a pretty good composting infrastructure already,” Cooper said. “It currently manages all the organics being currently diverted.” He expects the regulations to prompt businesses to fill the need for organic waste collection, processing, and the marketing of the product coming out of the back end.
Food waste currently sitting in Massachusetts landfills generates methane, a greenhouse gas that traps 23 times as much heat in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. In a controlled environment such as a plant that converts waste into energy, heat and fertilizer, the methane can be contained.
Hotels currently using food waste decomposition machines—machines I have written about for Green Lodging News in the past—would most likely be able to continue to use them. The Seaport Hotel in Boston is one hotel that currently has such a machine.
Hotels not so prepared for the coming regulations will have to reconsider how they collect and store food waste. Staff training will be key, as well as proper containers and pest control. Of course the new regulations will only be as good as how they are enforced.
According to an article in the Boston Globe, the coming regulations will make Massachusetts the first state with such a comprehensive prohibition on commercial food waste. Could your state be next?
If your property is currently diverting 100 percent of its food waste, I would love to learn how it is done—whether through proper portioning, food donation programs, composting, or decomposition machines. And, if your state government is following a path similar to Massachusetts—preparing to ban commercial food waste, I would love to learn about it as well. I can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com, or by phone at (440) 243-2055.
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