Restaurants and grocery stores will be required to donate food they don’t use to food pantries or turn it into compost instead of throwing it in the dumpster under one of several of Gainesville’s new sweeping zero waste ordinances.
Those requirements are among one of three proposed laws approved by the Gainesville City Commission on Thursday.
The ordinance requires one more reading before taking effect and is designed to significantly reduce waste going to the landfill.
Another proposal would require that food that has not yet expired be given to people or animals first before being composted, which City Commissioner Adrian Hayes-Santos said is a “big” deal.
“They will have to get (the food) to people who are hungry, so it is a major step in that direction of not wasting edible food and making sure that people in our community don’t go hungry,” Hayes-Santos said.
Diversion from landfills:Gainesville’s composting program diverts food waste from landfill, should be expanded
Zero Waste discussions:Zero Waste Subcommittee to discuss proposed ordinance on Tuesday at City Hall
Composting diverts from landfill waste:Gainesville’s composting program diverts food waste from landfill, should be expanded
The commission adopted the recommendations from the “Zero Waste Subcommittee,” which includes residents and city employees who have met regularly since September 2020.
“We are going to have one of the most significant food waste diversion programs in the country, which will require grocery stores and restaurants to donate edible food to food pantries,” said Mike Heimbach, sustainability manager for the city on Friday.
“There are some significant changes to how we are going to handle our waste going forward in the city, and it’s across pretty much all aspects of solid waste.”
Heimbach said decomposing food waste…
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Wanda Beck
View More PostsWanda Beck is a technology reporter who covers the intersection of business and crypto. A native of Boston, Wanda spent almost five years at The Boston25News, where she wrote extensively about the media industry's struggle to adapt to the Internet.
