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A1861
ASSEMBLY, No. 1861
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JAMES J. KENNEDY
District 22 (Somerset and Union)
Assemblyman STERLEY S. STANLEY
District 18 (Middlesex)
Assemblyman ANTHONY S. VERRELLI
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Freiman, Assemblywoman Swain, Assemblyman
Karabinchak, Assemblywomen Reynolds-Jackson, Collazos-Gill and Assemblyman
Calabrese
SYNOPSIS
���� Requires solid waste management district to develop
strategy to reduce food waste; requires DEP to adopt certain rules and
regulations regarding composting facilities.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning the reduction of food waste and
supplementing P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.).
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
����� 1.�� a.�
No later than two years after the effective date of this section, each solid
waste management district in the State shall develop and implement a strategy
for reducing, by the year 2035, the amount of food waste generated annually in
the district by at least 50 percent of the amount which was generated in the year
2022.� The strategy shall be adopted as an amendment to the district solid
waste management plan required pursuant to the �Solid Waste Management Act,�
P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.), or pursuant to an administrative action by
the solid waste management district authorized pursuant to rules and
regulations adopted for that purpose, and shall be subject to the approval of
the department.� Any increase in the amount of perishable food donated for
human consumption, as well as any increase in the amount of food waste
composted or anaerobically digested, shall count toward the food waste
reduction target established pursuant to this subsection.
����� b.�� No
later than 180 days after the effective date of this section, the department
shall develop, and publish on its Internet website, a list of measures solid
waste management districts can take in order to achieve the food waste
reduction requirement established in subsection a. of this section.� Such
measures shall include, but need not be limited to, measures to increase the
donation of surplus edible food, the source separation and recycling of food
waste, the composting and anaerobic digestion of food waste and other food
waste diversion methods that also reduce methane emissions, and public
awareness campaigns.
����� c.�� The
department shall adopt rules and regulations, in accordance with the
"Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.),
to create a tiered regulatory structure for composting facilities, pursuant to
the �Solid Waste Management Act,� P.L.1970, c.39 (C.13:1E-1 et seq.), in order
to facilitate the use of organic waste recycling facilities in the State.
����� d.
As used in this section, �food waste� means any food-derived organic waste that
is disposed of in a landfill, including, but not limited to, edible food, food
scraps generated by a consumer after the generator issues or sells food to the
consumer, food processing waste, food processing residue generated from
processing and packaging operations, overripe or spoiled produce, trimmings
from food, food product over-runs, soiled and unrecyclable paper, and used
cooking fats, oil, and grease.
���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
����� This bill would require each solid waste management
district in the State (i.e., each county and the Hackensack Meadowlands
District) to develop, as part of its district solid waste management plan, a
strategy to reduce food waste in the district.
����� Specifically, the bill would require each solid waste
management district to develop and implement a strategy for reducing, by the
year 2035, the amount of food waste generated annually in the district by at
least 50 percent of the amount which was generated in 2022.� The strategy would
be adopted as an amendment to each district�s solid waste management plan, or
through an administrative action, and would be subject to the approval of the
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
����� The bill would require the DEP to develop, and
publish on its Internet website, a list of measures solid waste management
districts can take in order to achieve the food waste reduction requirement
established in the bill.� These measures would include actions to prevent food
waste and increase the donation of surplus edible food, the source separation
and recycling of food waste, the composting and anaerobic digestion of food
waste and other food waste diversion methods that also reduce methane emissions,
and public awareness campaigns.� The bill would also require the DEP to adopt
rules and regulations to create a tiered regulatory structure for composting
facilities, based on the framework established in the Solid Waste Management
Act, in order to facilitate the use of organic waste recycling facilities in
the State.