Illinois Takes a Bite Out of Food Waste: A New Law Sets a Precedent

By Jayce Jimenez, FLPC Student Fall 2024

Nearly 40% of food in the U.S. goes unsold or uneaten. Much of this food ends up in landfills, generating hundreds of millions of metric tons of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gas emissions per year. One way that states can address this issue is by banning the disposal of food in landfills. Another approach is to mandate that individuals and/or entities recycle food instead of wasting it. To date, several states and the District of Columbia have passed some form of organic waste ban laws or waste recycling mandates.

Illinois is the most recent state to have passed such a law. This law, the “Large Event Facilities Act,” requires certain event facilities defined as “permanent structure[s] for holding public meetings or public events,” to offer composting for organic waste when such facilities are in counties with composting infrastructure. Additionally, the law specifies that waste is to be collected separately from recyclable materials. The mandate only applies to event facilities with a maximum capacity or occupancy of at least 3,500 persons. It also specifically excludes school stadiums, county fairs, and hotels from its coverage. Notably, the law includes a helpful enforcement mechanism for noncompliance, which grants prosecutors the ability to seek fines for offenses. Overall, this law is a positive and exciting step in the direction of diverting food waste from landfills.

From here, Illinois can continue its organic waste diversion efforts by strengthening its policy over time. As we’ve explained in our State Policy Toolkit, state organic waste policies can expand their impact by covering more entities and granting fewer waivers and exceptions. Applying such changes immediately, however, may prove difficult to implement. We therefore recommend a tiered and phased-in approach, where more waste generators are covered by the policy over time.

Illinois’ law currently requires that large event facilities with occupancies of at least 3,500 people offer composting services. A tiered and phased-in approach to strengthening the policy could gradually include other generators that meet specific food waste thresholds. For example, an expanded policy could set a date by which composting requirements apply to all generators with occupancies of 3,500 people, not just event facilities. A subsequent expansion of the law could decrease the applicable occupancy number, and so on over time. This process will not only lead to significant reductions in food waste but will also allow generators and jurisdictions the advanced notice to adapt to new policies. Coupled with the already established enforcement provision, this tiered and phased-in approach to expanding the law would represent an ideal way to deter food waste disposal in landfills.

Illinois’ new law represents an exciting example of the democratic process being effectively used to address the still largely unsolved issue of domestic food waste. Hopefully, Illinois will continue to act as an example to other states by expanding and enforcing this law.