We waste too much food in Oregon. It’s estimated that in 2023, one million tons of food went uneaten in our state. To conserve natural resources and address climate change, Oregon needs to do more to reduce food waste and find opportunities to put the food waste that is generated back into the food system, rather than sending it to the landfill.
A bill to address food waste in Oregon, House Bill 3018, had its first public hearing on Tuesday in the House Committee on Climate, Energy & Environment. This proposed bill would address food waste through uniform date labeling and commercial organics diversion.
Uniform date labeling
Consumers often throw away edible, nutritious food because the food date labels don’t always reflect whether the food is safe to eat, but are often interpreted as “expiration dates.” Applying clear, consistent standards for date labeling is a simple step that can make a big difference in preventing food waste. Some estimates show that standardizing food date labels can reduce food waste by up to 10%. House Bill 3018 would create uniform date labels to reduce confusion about whether the food is safe to eat.
Commercial organics diversion
Another key strategy to reduce the environmental impacts of food waste is to divert it from the landfill. At a time of growing concern about the effects of climate change, food waste disposed of in landfills produces climate-warming methane– a greenhouse gas that is more than 80 times as potent as carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Food waste going to a landfill is also a waste of resources– the land, energy, water and care that went into producing that food in the first place.
House Bill 3018 would require large commercial generators of food waste to separate “back of house” food waste from the garbage and get it collected for composting.
If we compost food waste instead of sending it to a landfill, the aerobic decomposition process prevents the production of methane emissions. Not only that, but the end product of composting is a nutrient rich soil that can be applied as fertilizer, helping farmers, gardeners and landscapers alike.
Oregon needs to do more to reduce food waste and keep food out of our landfills, and this bill would be an important step forward in that effort.
You can submit written testimony in support of House Bill 3018 until Thursday, February 20th at 8am through the Oregon Legislative Information System.
