NYLCV applauds Governor Hochul for signing an NYLCV 2024 Scorecard bill last week to expand New York’s Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Program.
“No one in New York should be forced to choose between paying rent or putting food on the table,” Governor Hochul said last Thursday. “Expanding the State’s Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law will expand access to food supplies and make sure families in need have the resources they deserve.”
New York State generates an estimated 4 million tons of excess food annually, approximately 17% of the state’s municipal solid waste stream. The vast majority of this waste is disposed of in landfills where it decomposes and releases methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
In fact, organic waste in landfills is the largest source of methane emissions in New York.
Through New York’s Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Program, the state has been able to prevent a good amount of that food waste from becoming polluters in landfills, but it was time to expand the program.
[You can click here to thank Gov. Hochul for expanding this measure.]
“So many people in communities statewide still face food insecurity, which is why we cannot let up our fight against hunger,” said State Senator and bill sponsor Peter Harckham. “The success of the food donation law has been truly remarkable, and by expanding this law we address sustainability and climate accountability as well the need to lessen waste in our landfills. I appreciate the partnership of Assemblymember Shimsky on this legislation, and thank Governor Hochul for signing it into law. Most of all, I thank the many volunteers who are fighting hunger in New York.”
About 25% of the food we buy is wasted, while more than 2.5 million New Yorkers lack consistent access to sufficient food.
Sending millions of tons of food to landfills not only wastes the valuable resources used to produce it, but also wastes an opportunity to feed these vulnerable New Yorkers who face food insecurity.
The expansion will gradually scale down the annual average tonnage of food scrap generators that are required to join the program and expand coverage to food scrap generators within 50-miles of a food waste recycling center.
“It is a necessary next step, given that an estimated thirty-five to forty percent of food enters the waste stream — contributing to nearly a third of our greenhouse gas emissions,” said Assemblymember MaryJane Shimsky, who sponsored the bill. “With implementation phasing in over the next three years, it will give our businesses and recycling infrastructure the time they need to build capacity. I thank the Governor and Senator Harckham for their partnership in getting this legislation accomplished.”
When fully implemented, this legislation will ensure that 99% of large food scrap generators outside of New York City will manage their waste in a sustainable and sensible way, increasing the amount of food waste recycled by 42%.