Members of Congress have recently introduced legislation looking to measure and reduce food waste, and to support composting.
The Cultivating Organic Matter through the Promotion of Sustainable Techniques (COMPOST) Act creates a federal grant and loan guarantee program for composting infrastructure projects, including those ranging from smaller farm, home or community efforts up to large industrial-scale composting facilities.
The bill also adds the acts of producing and/or using compost to the definition of a “conservation practice” for the purposes of U.S. Department of Agriculture conservation programs, according to a press release.
The US Composting Council and the U.S. Composting Infrastructure Coalition applauded the bill’s introduction in the House of Representatives.
Separately, the Zero Food Waste Act creates a grant program, administered by the U.S. EPA, to provide money for planning, measuring and reducing food waste. The money would be available to state and local governments and nonprofit groups, according to the press release.
