Top: Photo courtesy Natural Resources Defense Council

State lawmakers are continuing to treat food waste as a policy priority in 2026, with new legislation moving across prevention, recovery, recycling, end-market development, reporting, and procurement. A midyear update published by ReFED, and authored by Heather Latino of the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic (Harvard FLPC), shows how the next wave of food waste policy is becoming broader and more varied than earlier legislative efforts.

ReFED and the Harvard FLPC actively monitor legislative developments related to food loss and waste, including through biannual updates to ReFED’s Food Waste Policy Finder. The latest update also points advocates to the 2026 Food Waste Legislative Tracker, developed by Divert in partnership with the Zero Food Waste Coalition and the Harvard FLPC, for information on proposed and recently enacted state bills.

A notable shift is the expansion of the categories being tracked. Previously, the update tracked 13 policy categories plus an “other” category. This year, three new categories were added: disposal surcharge fees, end market development, and reporting. Disposal surcharge fee bills add or increase per ton disposal tipping fees to help fund recycling, composting, and donation initiatives. End market development bills focus on government purchasing of compost or other products made from organic waste, as well as incentives that help build markets for recycled organics products. Reporting bills establish requirements for tracking organic waste generation, food donations, or food waste sent for recycling.

That broader tracking reflects a diversification of policy tools that aren’t limited to state landfill bans or donation liability protections. Increasingly, states are trying to build the infrastructure, data systems, markets, and incentives needed to make food waste prevention, food recovery, composting, and anaerobic digestion work in practice.

As of July 2026, 37 states had introduced 135 unique food waste-related bills. Of those, 26 had been enacted, 45 were still pending, and 64 were “dead,” meaning they could no longer pass this year. New Jersey and New York led with 21 unique bills introduced in each state, followed by California with 16.

Bill Trends in 2026

The most common category of introduced bills focused on reducing food waste in schools, with 19 bills. Food waste awareness and composting and anaerobic digestion permitting followed closely, with 16 bills each. ReFED notes that awareness bills include efforts to increase public understanding around minimizing food waste, donating surplus food, and properly source-separating food waste for recycling. Composting and anaerobic digestion permitting bills address where facilities or programs can operate, what feedstocks they can accept, and what requirements apply to different scales or types of organics recycling activity.

A few bills that illustrate the range of policies include:

• Hawaii updated its organic waste diversion goals, aiming to reduce organic waste disposal by 40% by 2038, 70% by 2043, and 100% by 2048.
• Maryland created an On-Farm Organics Diversion and Recycling Grant Program to support wasted food prevention, food recovery, organics recycling, and compost use on farms, with $250,000 in annual appropriations beginning in fiscal year 2028.
• Massachusetts approved a refundable tax credit for farm businesses that donate food or crops to nonprofit food distribution organizations.
• Rhode Island strengthened school food waste reduction policies by clarifying that schools may use share tables or donation programs, requiring school waste studies to be public, and updating procurement language for food service vendors. Beginning in January 2029, the state will also remove certain exemptions from food waste diversion requirements when no composting or anaerobic digestion facility is within 15 miles.
• Virginia approved legislation giving local governments authority to require large organic waste generators to divert organic waste from disposal if they are within 30 miles of a recycling facility, unless they can demonstrate undue hardship.
• In New York, legislators passed a bill to standardize food date labels, though it still requires the governor’s signature. If enacted, the bill would require “USE by” for safety dates and “BEST if Used by” for quality dates, prohibit “sell by” dates on food manufactured after July 1, 2028, and clarify that food past its quality date may still be sold or donated.

This ReFED policy update points to a maturation of food waste policy. States are still advancing diversion from disposal, but they are also turning toward building markets, requiring data, supporting farms, improving school systems, and clarifying the rules for organics recycling infrastructure.