Recycling

Date Labeling | Highlighted

January 2025

Mapping the food loss and waste policy landscape and best practices around the globe.

State Specific Food Waste Fact Sheets

Date Labeling | Liability Protections | Tax Incentives | Food Scraps for Animal Feed

November 2024

These food waste fact sheets explain how federal laws interact with state laws on date labeling, liability protection, tax incentives for businesses, and food scraps for animal feed to impact food waste.

Atlas – ESG Reporting Issue Brief (Emissions, Environmental, and Food Waste Reporting Policies)

Issue Brief | ESG | Environmental Reporting

August 2024

This brief explores how mandatory reporting on food waste and environmental impacts can drive reduction efforts and highlight economic benefits of better waste management.

Atlas – Government Grants and Incentives Issue Brief

Government Grants and Incentives | Consumer Education | Issue Brief

August 2024

This resource provides information on national and local grants and incentives designed to boost food donation, especially where tax benefits alone are insufficient.

Atlas – Food Safety for Donations Issue Brief

Food Safety for Food Donations | Guidelines | Issue Brief

July 2024

This resource outlines guidelines and best practices for policies to ensure food safety in donation processes to protect public health and encourage more donations.

Atlas – National FLW Strategies Issue Brief

Issue Brief | National Strategy | FLW Strategy

April 2024

This resource discusses the importance of national frameworks and strategies for reducing food loss and waste throughout the supply chain, promoting comprehensive food recovery efforts.

Atlas – Tax Policy Issue Brief

Tax Incentives | Issue Brief | Tax Policy | Tax Barriers

December 2023

This brief explores fiscal policies, discussing how tax regimes can either incentivize or discourage food donations based on their structure and associated costs.

Atlas – COVID 19 Issue Briefs

COVID 19 | Disaster Preparedness

November 2023

This report highlights the impact of COVID-19 on food donation operations, presenting urgent policy measures needed to enhance food recovery during crises.

Atlas – Liability Protection Issue Brief

Liability Protections | Issue Brief

November 2023

This brief covers legal protections for food donors, explaining how clear liability protections can reduce fear and encourage the donation of safe, surplus food.

Food Sovereignty & Food Production in East Cleveland: A Legal and Policy Guide to State and Local Law

Compost Incentives

August 2023

This report identifies strategic low-cost opportunities for agriculture and food production in East Cleveland, Ohio, and analyzes the state and local laws and policies that might help or hinder residents’ ability to capitalize on these opportunities. The report explores how East Cleveland residents might take advantage of Ohio’s regulatory structure to efficiently leverage existing resources into viable food-based businesses, owned by community members at every stage of production. Part III of the report covers regarding the composting of food waste.

Achieving Zero Food Waste: A State Policy Toolkit

May 2023

In response to constituent demand, state leaders are at the forefront of advancing efforts to tackle food waste across the United States—ensuring food makes it to those experiencing food insecurity, creating jobs and economic opportunities, while also addressing environmental harms and climate change. FLPC, in collaboration with the Zero Food Waste Coalition, created this toolkit to similarly embolden officials and advocates from across the country to learn from each other’s successes and accelerate their own leadership and impact. This toolkit contains a range of tried and tested policies that states can use to prevent food waste and keep food out of landfills and incinerators.

Atlas – South Africa Survey

South Africa | Survey | Technical Assistance

September 2022

Opportunities to Reduce Food Waste in the 2023 Farm Bill

April 2022

Opportunities to Reduce Food Waste in the 2023 Farm Bill details how Congress can act to reduce food waste and recommends specific provisions to include in the 2023/2024 Farm Bill. Given the bipartisan support for measures to reduce food waste, the farm bill provides an exciting opportunity to invest in food waste reduction efforts for greater social, economic, and environmental benefits. This report breaks food waste recommendations into four categories, based on whether they are intended to prevent food waste, increase food recovery, recycle food scraps through composting or anaerobic digestion, or coordinate food waste reduction efforts.

The Role of Policy in Food Loss and Waste

Liability Protections | Tax Incentives | Food Waste Deterrence Policies

June 2021

Book Chapter in The Economics of Food Loss in the Produce Industry, Taylor & Francis (Minor, Thornsbury, and Mishra eds., 2019).

Leveraging Child Nutrition Reauthorization to Reduce Food Waste

Date Labeling | Liability Protections | Government Grants and Incentives | Food Safety for Food Donations | Federal Advocacy

May 2021

This report outlines opportunities for Congress to leverage the next Child Nutrition Reauthorization legislation to reduce food waste in federal child nutrition programs. It also highlights several administrative opportunities through which the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service and the Food and Drug Administration could prioritize food waste reduction independent of Congressional action. This report suggests general changes to the Child Nutrition Act and changes specific to the child nutrition programs through the NSLP/SBP, CACFP, and WIC.

Food Recovery in the District of Columbia: A Legal Guide

Date Labeling | Liability Protections | Tax Incentives | Food Safety for Food Donations

October 2019

This legal guide answers some of the most common legal questions raised by businesses, schools, charities, and other stakeholders regarding food donation and food recovery in the District of Columbia. This guide was originally published in October 2017 and was updated in 2019 after the District adopted the Save Good Food Amendment Act.

Bans and Beyond: Designing and Implementing Organic Waste Bans and Mandatory Organics Recycling Laws

Food Waste Deterrence Policies

July 2019

The toolkit analyzes organic waste bans from a holistic perspective, examining the structure of organic waste ban laws as well as other factors including funding, infrastructure, enforcement, and education. Together, these components can have a significant impact on how an organic waste ban policy will function in a given state or locality.

Good Laws, Good Food: Putting Local Food Policy to Work for Our Communities

October 2017

Section VIII of this toolkit discusses state and local policies to decrease and recover food that would otherwise be wasted.

Moving Food Waste Forward Policy Recommendations for Next Steps in Pennsylvania

September 2017

The Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic was commissioned by Philabundance to develop this report outlining legislative strategies and regulatory opportunities that could reduce food waste in Pennsylvania. The goal of this report is to understand how to build on best practices from across the country and address the unique strengths and challenges within Pennsylvania.

Moving Food Waste Forward | Policy Recommendations for Next Steps in Massachusetts

February 2017

In October of 2016, the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic released Keeping Food Out of the Landfill: Policy Ideas for States and Localities, a resource that provides detailed information on how states and local governments can contribute to local food waste reduction. This report applies and refines that resource to provide information and recommendations specific to Massachusetts stakeholders. Massachusetts stakeholders can use the information in this report to determine key priorities for next steps in policy change to further reduce the amount of food wasted in the state.

ReFED Policy Finder

State | National

January 2017

Since 2017, FLPC and ReFED have partnered together on the Policy Finder, a tool which provides information on six policy areas that affect food waste nationwide: Date Labeling, Tax Incentives, Liability Protections, Food Safety for Food Donations, Animal Feed, and Organic Waste Bans. In addition to state laws, the Policy Finder provides an overview of current federal policies, proposed federal policies, and future policy goals. The Policy Finder is meant to be a tool for nonprofits, businesses, and government officials to understand current policies in their jurisdiction and nationwide and use this knowledge to advocate for better policies.

Leftovers for Livestock: A Legal Guide for Using Food Scraps as Animal Feed

Food Scraps for Animal Feed

State | National

August 2016

This paper provides guidance to food scrap generators, farmers, and other stakeholders interested in using food scraps as animal feed by discussing federal and state regulations bearing on animal feed safety. This paper also lays out a core set of considerations for those interested in feeding food scraps to animal feed.

US Food Loss and Waste Policy Action Plan for Congress and the Administration