A2090 2R

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)

Senator BOB SMITH

District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)

Senator JOHN F. MCKEON

District 27 (Essex and Passaic)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblyman Freiman, Assemblywoman Swain, Assemblyman Karabinchak, Assemblywomen Reynolds-Jackson, Hall, Collazos-Gill, Assemblyman Calabrese, 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

As amended by the Senate on December 22, 2025.

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 ¹[2030] 2035¹, the amount of food waste generated annually in the district by at least 50 percent of the amount which ¹[is] was¹ generated in the year ¹[this section takes effect] 2022¹. 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.) ¹, or pursuant to an administrative action by the solid waste management district authorized pursuant to rules and regulations adopted for that purpose,¹ and ¹shall be¹ subject to the approval of the department. ¹Any 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.^{1 2}Food waste sent for final disposal to a sanitary landfill facility that collects and delivers landfill gas to a gas-to-energy facility as fuel for the generation of Class I renewable energy or for the generation of renewable natural gas of pipeline quality standards or transportation fuel grade requirements shall not be subject to the food waste reduction requirements of this section.²

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. ¹The 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.¹ As used in this section, “food waste” means ¹any 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,¹ 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.