With the continued national attention on reducing food loss and waste, ReFED and the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic are tracking and analyzing food waste legislation. Their biannual updates to the Food Waste Policy Finder provide a comprehensive view of state and federal-level policies and highlight the efforts to shape the future of food waste reduction.

In 2024, the push to address food waste gained significant momentum as ongoing focus on sustainability, food security, and economic opportunity kept food waste policy at the forefront and offered an occasion for bipartisan collaboration. In the latter half of 2024, state efforts to tackle food waste accelerated, with notable developments in date labeling and organic food waste bans. This update highlights some of the policy changes and legislative actions shaping the future of food waste reduction that we saw in the latter half of 2024.

2024 State Food Waste Legislation: A Snapshot

We saw continued momentum on the state level with 29 states introducing a total of 100 unique food waste-related bills in 2024. Of these, 75 remained pending at the end of the year, 18 passed, and seven failed. New Jersey led the way with 20 introduced bills, followed by California with 13. However, 2024 concluded with only 18% of proposed state-level bills being passed, compared to 25% after the 2023 legislative session. This slight decline in legislative success rates reveals the ongoing need for strong, diverse coalitions and collaborative support for food waste policy. Bills that included funding for food waste measures, often as part of broader funding packages, were the most likely to pass. Among the other categories of food waste legislation tracked such as animal feed, liability protections, tax incentives, and school food policies, there was a relatively even distribution in the number of bills that successfully passed.

2024 Year-End Trends in Food Waste Legislation

Food Date Labeling

Confusion around date labeling contributes to household food waste, as individuals mistakenly discard food that is still safe to eat, assuming that it is no longer good once it is past date. In fact, ReFED finds that confusion over date labels leads U.S. consumers to throw away about three billion pounds of food, worth $7 billion, every year. This confusion also creates barriers to food donation, as food banks and rescue organizations may be uncertain about whether they can distribute items past their labeled dates. In response, last September, California passed AB660 which comprehensively overhauls food date labeling practices in the state by mandating the use of the uniform terms “BEST if Used By” (to indicate quality) or “USE By” (to indicate safety). Importantly, it also explicitly allows food to be donated past its quality date, removing a key obstacle to food recovery efforts. The new law, which takes effect July 1, 2026, also prohibits consumer-facing "Sell By" labels, which are intended for retailers but often mislead consumers into discarding food that is still safe to eat. This law makes mandatory standard date labeling language that was previously encouraged by earlier state legislation. By eliminating confusing labels, reinforcing the distinction between quality-based and safety-based dates, and clarifying donation rules, the law aims to reduce consumer confusion, prevent food waste, and streamline labeling standards.

New Jersey’s S200 took a similar approach to reducing food waste by proposing standardized date labels and public education to improve consumer understanding before the bill ultimately languished in committee. Had the bill passed in 2024, it also would have standardized the use of “BEST if Used By” for quality-based dates and “USE By” for safety-based dates, ensuring that consumers can distinguish between when food may lose peak freshness versus when it is no longer safe to eat. Like California’s AB660, which has been enacted, New Jersey’s bill, S200, would also prohibit consumer-facing “Sell By” labels. Both bills included explicit protections for food donation, making clear that food past its quality date can still be donated and used, addressing a common barrier faced by food banks and rescue organizations. Additionally, if passed before the conclusion of New Jersey’s 2024-2025 legislative session, S200 would require the New Jersey Department of Health to lead a public education campaign on food labeling, further supporting consumer awareness and food waste reduction.

Expanding Organic Waste Bans

Organic waste bans are a policy tool used to reduce landfill waste by requiring certain businesses and institutions to recycle food scraps instead of discarding them.

New York’s enacted S05331 expands the state’s food donation and food scraps recycling program by gradually lowering the annual average tonnage requirement subject to the regulation and restricting the distance exemption from the organic waste ban for businesses that are not located close to an organics recycler. Currently, only those New York businesses and institutions that generate more than two tons of organic waste per week must donate excess food to the maximum extent feasible and recycle any remaining food scraps if they are within 25 miles of an organics recycling facility. By constricting the distance exemption so that generators within 50 miles of an organics recycler are covered and gradually lowering the organic waste production threshold, the new law ensures that more food generators participate in donation and composting efforts, helping divert edible food to those in need while lessening pressure on New York’s landfills. (Note: New York passed A1679 in 2025, which adjusts the implementation timeline for S05331).

Other states were considering organic waste ban-related policies in 2024 as well. Maine’s LD1009 proposed a phased-in ban on landfilling or incinerating food scraps, gradually expanding to cover all food scrap generators by 2028. The bill also would have required public buildings and spaces to provide clearly marked food scrap collection bins alongside trash receptacles. The House and Senate both approved the bill, and it advanced through 75% of the legislative process before ultimately failing to become law. A revised version, LD1065, introduced in March 2025, removes the public collection bin requirement and revises the criteria for who is covered by the food waste ban by introducing a new threshold based on the amount of food waste generated. If enacted, starting July 1, 2027, entities generating 2+ tons per week within 20 miles of a recycling facility must comply. By July 1, 2029, the threshold would drop to 1 ton per week, with a 25-mile radius. This slower rollout eases compliance for covered entities compared to the mandate made in LD1009.

Conclusion

The surge of legislative action in the second half of 2024 demonstrates a strong state-level commitment to tackling food waste through prevention, rescue, and recycling. As more states pass food waste reduction policies, these efforts lay the foundation for long-term systemic change. They also make the case for increased federal support and for federal and state collaboration, as state action alone will not be enough.

Moving further into 2025, clearer food date labeling laws, continued investment in infrastructure, and expansion of organic waste bans will be essential in making meaningful progress toward waste reduction goals. Policymakers, businesses, and communities must work together to identify and enact policies most needed for their specific state context, and to ensure that 2024’s progress will continue to be foundational to longer-term change.

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