Bill > S02179

This bill enacts the State and Local Government Food Waste Prevention and Diversion Act, which establishes comprehensive requirements for state, municipal, and local education agencies' food service establishments to minimize and responsibly manage food waste. Under the law, covered food service establishments (such as restaurants, cafeterias, and other food service locations generating over a specified amount of food waste per week) must take several key actions: minimize excess food generation, prioritize redistributing unused food to people in need or as animal feed, and then focus on composting or processing organic waste for agricultural or other uses. The bill requires these establishments to source-separate organic waste, provide educational resources and training for staff about waste management, and potentially participate in reporting their waste management practices. Establishments can request a waiver if compliance costs exceed 15% of disposal costs. The law provides flexibility for municipalities to implement even more stringent waste management regulations and promotes actions to reduce food waste across different sectors. The requirements will be phased in over several years, with increasing strictness in the amount of food waste that triggers these obligations, starting at two thousand pounds per week in 2025-2026 and decreasing to five hundred pounds per week by 2029 and beyond.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S2179