Top: Image courtesy Casella Waste Systems, Inc.

The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) released draft rules in July 2025 to address food residuals management at solid waste facilities. “The draft food residuals rules, part of the Draft Solid Waste Management Rules (SWMR), take into account relevant Act 148 statutes (2012), the recommendations made during the Depackager Stakeholder process (see Depackager Stakeholder Group Final Report) and the Report on Microplastics and PFAS in Food Packaging and Food Waste (section Act 170, Sec. 26),” stated ANR when it released the draft. “ANR intends for these draft rules — if promulgated — to replace the DEC Policy for Managing Food Residuals Including Packaged Food Residuals – January 2020 and repeal the moratorium on issuance of solid waste facility certifications for food depackaging facilities implemented in Section 24 of Act 170.”

New definitions for Packaged Food, Mechanical Depackaging and Depackaged Food are included in the Draft SWMR (Section 6-201). Section 6-304 prohibits commingling source separated food residuals with packaged food, and treatment of source separated food residuals via mechanical depackaging unless pre-approved by the Program. Operational requirements specific to mechanical depackaging facilities (Section 6-905) include:

1. The facility shall not accept source separated food residuals that are commingled with packaged food.
2. The facility shall ensure that the equipment and processes are optimized to prevent contamination in outgoing slurries and that equipment and operational settings provide optimal recovery of organics and are compatible with the materials being processed.
3. The facility shall provide sufficient staffing to manually remove outer film wraps, boxboard, cardboard and other non-food containing outer materials prior to processing in the depackager. Materials shall be recovered for recycling to the extent possible.

“The public meeting was on August 5 and the public comment period for the draft depackaging rules was August 22,” explains Natasha Duarte, Director of the Composting Association of Vermont (CAV), which has links to the draft rules on its website. “ANR is also working on revisions to the entire Rule. It will be including the comments received in August in their public record for review by their rulemaking group. This review process will begin ‘shortly’ and will culminate in a final draft of revisions to the (full) rule that ANR will be bringing to the State’s Interagency Committee on Administrative Rules to begin the formal rulemaking process. What this effectively means is that there will be another round for public comment on all the Solid Waste Management rules, including the new depack section, and another public meeting as well.” Duarte adds that CAV anticipates the formal rulemaking process will start sometime this fall, although ANR might give themselves some flexibility on the timing.