School Food Waste Reduction and Composting Act of 2026

Statement of Introduction School Food Waste Reduction and Composting Act of 2026 May 7, 2026 Today, alongside Councilmembers Henderson, T. White, Allen, Pinto, and Nadeau, I am introducing the School Food Waste Reduction and Composting Act of 2026, legislation to reduce food waste in District schools, expand organics collection, and strengthen food donation practices across public school meal programs. Every school day, District students are served meals through DCPS and public charter school food programs. While these meals are essential to student health and learning, they also generate significant food waste. Too often, excess food and compostable material end up in the trash, even when some of that food could be donated or recovered and the remaining organic waste could be separated for composting. This bill helps move the District toward a more practical and accountable system for reducing waste in schools. The District has already established ambitious zero waste goals, but school-level implementation has remained uneven. Schools cannot successfully compost without clear agency responsibilities, collection infrastructure, technical assistance, and coordination with food service providers. This legislation addresses those gaps by establishing a clearer implementation framework for school organics collection programs. The bill requires DCPS and public charter schools, including food service vendors operating on their behalf, to separate food waste for organics collection beginning January 1, 2027. It assigns the Department of Public Works responsibility for compliance guidance, technical assistance, and enforcement, while requiring the Department of General Services to ensure the provision and maintenance of necessary containers, signage, and collection infrastructure at District-owned or leased school facilities. The bill also requires OSSE to coordinate with agencies, schools, and food service providers to support implementation and reporting. To support accountability and long-term implementation, the legislation requires the Mayor to issue implementing rules within 180 days and establishes annual reporting requirements on compliance trends, technical assistance, implementation barriers, and school food donation activity. Finally, the bill amends the Healthy Schools Act to encourage schools to establish share tables and donate excess edible food where practicable. It also incorporates school-level food donation

reporting into existing wellness reporting systems to better track donation practices and barriers to expanding food recovery efforts. The School Food Waste Reduction and Composting Act of 2026 is a practical step toward reducing waste, supporting food recovery, and making the District’s zero waste goals more achievable in schools. I look forward to working with my colleagues, District agencies, schools, and advocates to move this legislation forward.
1 2 3 _____________________________ _____________________________ 4 Councilmember Christina Henderson Councilmember Janeese Lewis George 5 6 7 8 _____________________________ _____________________________ 9 Councilmember Trayon White, Sr. Councilmember Charles Allen 10 11 12 13 14 _____________________________ _____________________________ 15 Councilmember Brooke Pinto Councilmember Brianne K. Nadeau 16 17 18 19 A BILL 20 21 _______ 22 23 24 IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 25 26 __________________ 27 28 To amend the Zero Waste Omnibus Amendment Act of 2020 and the Healthy Schools Act of 29 2010 to require food waste separation and organics collection in public school meal 30 programs, clarify agency responsibilities for implementation, ensure provision of 31 necessary infrastructure and equipment, and incorporate school-level food donation 32 reporting into existing reporting systems. 33 BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 34 act may be cited as the “School Food Waste Reduction and Composting Act of 2026”. 35 Sec. 2. The Sustainable Solid Waste Management Amendment Act of 2014, effective 36 March 16, 2021 (D.C. Law 23-211; D.C. Official Code § 8-1031.01 et seq.), is amended as 37 follows: 38 (a) Section 103a(b) (D.C. Official Code 8-1031.03a(b)) is amended by adding a new 39 paragraph (2A) to read as follows: 40

“(2A) Beginning January 1, 2027, District of Columbia Public Schools and public charter 41 schools, including any food service program or vendor operating on their behalf, that prepare or 42 handle food waste onsite.”. 43 (b) Section 104a (D.C. Official Code § 8-1031.04a) is amended by adding new 44 subsections (e) and (f) to read as follows: 45 “(e)(1) DPW shall be responsible for compliance guidance, technical assistance, and 46 enforcement of organics separation requirements applicable to District of Columbia Public 47 Schools (“DCPS”) and public charter school meal programs under this act. 48 “(2) The Department of General Services shall ensure the provision, installation, 49 and maintenance of necessary containers, signage, and collection infrastructure to support 50 compliance with this section at District-owned or District-leased public school facilities and shall 51 coordinate with public charter school operators or their designees to support the provision of 52 such infrastructure at public charter school facilities. 53 “(3) The Office of the State Superintendent of Education shall coordinate with DPW and 54 the Department of General Services, and with food service providers operating on behalf of 55 schools, to support implementation within school meal programs and to facilitate the collection 56 and transmission of reporting data to DPW. 57 “(f)(1) Within 180 days after the effective date of this subsection, the Mayor shall issue 58 rules to implement this section for public school and public charter school meal programs, 59 including establishing a corrective action process for DCPS and public charter school meal 60 programs that are not in compliance with the requirements of this section, including timeframes 61 for remediation, technical assistance, and follow-up review. 62
“(2) Beginning October 1 of the first full fiscal year after the effective date of this 63 subsection, and annually thereafter, the Department of Public Works shall submit to the Council 64 a report that includes: 65 “(A) A summary of compliance and contamination trends for public 66 school and public charter school meal programs; 67 “(B) A description of technical assistance activities and corrective actions 68 undertaken during the preceding fiscal year; 69 “(C) Identification of recurring implementation barriers, including barriers 70 related to equipment, staffing, contracts, and collection logistics; and 71 “(D) A summary of school food donation activity and barriers to donation, 72 based on information provided by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education.”. 73 Sec. 3. Section 203(d) of the Healthy Schools Act of 2010, effective July 27, 2010 (D.C. 74 Law 18-209; D.C. Official Code § 38-822.03(d)), is amended as follows: 75 (a) Paragraph (1) is amended to read as follows: 76 “(1) Public schools, public charter schools, and participating private schools are 77 encouraged to establish share tables and to donate excess edible food, as practicable.”. 78 (b) Paragraph (2) is amended by striking the phrase “share table participation” and 79 inserting the phrase “share table participation, including whether the school donates excess 80 edible food, a summary of donation practices and partners, any barriers to donating excess edible 81 food, and steps taken to expand donation capacity, ” in its place. 82 (c) A new paragraph (3) is added to read as follows: 83 “(3) Information collected pursuant to this subsection shall be reported through existing 84 school health and wellness reporting systems administered by the Office of the State 85
Superintendent of Education and transmitted to the Department of Public Works for inclusion in 86 reporting in accordance with section 104a of the Sustainable Solid Waste Management 87 Amendment Act of 2014, effective March 16, 2021 (D.C. Law 23-211; D.C. Official Code § 8-88 1031.04a).”. 89 Sec. 4. Fiscal impact statement. 90 The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal 91 impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, 92 approved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a). 93 Sec. 5. Effective date. 94 This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or, in the event of veto by the 95 Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto) and a 30-day period of congressional review 96 as provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 97 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(1)). 98