Bill Text: NJ S663 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires solid waste management districts to develop strategy to reduce food waste; requires DEP to adopt certain rules and regulations regarding composting facilities.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4)
Status: (Failed) 2026-01-13 - Withdrawn Because Approved P.L.2025, c.228. [S663 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-S663-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator BOB SMITH
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
Senator JOHN F. MCKEON
District 27 (Essex and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators Mukherji and Greenstein
SYNOPSIS
Requires solid waste management districts 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.
