Of the first five U.S. states to implement food waste bans, only Massachusetts was successful at diverting waste away from landfills and incinerators, according to a new study from the University of California Rady School of Management.
Of the first five U.S. states to implement food waste bans, only Massachusetts was successful at diverting waste away from landfills and incinerators, according to a new study from the University of California Rady School of Management.
The paper, published today in Science, suggests a need to reevaluate current strategies, citing Massachusetts' approach as a benchmark for effective policy implementation.
Between 2014 and 2024, nine U.S. states made it unlawful for commercial waste generators—such as grocery chains—to dispose of their food waste in landfills, expecting a 10–15% waste reduction.
“We can say with high confidence that the combination of waste bans did not reduce landfilled waste by more than 3%, and that is including Massachusetts, which successfully reduced landfilled waste by 7%—gradually achieving a 13.2% reduction,” said Robert Evan Sanders, assistant professor of marketing at the Rady School of Management and coauthor of the paper. “Essentially, the data suggest that in four out of the five states we studied, these laws did nothing to reduce waste.”
Read more at University of California - San Diego
