We, the undersigned, call upon Baltimore City Officials and Institutional leaders to take concrete action now to affirm and advance Baltimore’s commitment to a just transition from a burning-and-burying solid waste system to a zero-waste system that directly benefits community, labor and our environment. A key initial phase of Baltimore’s Zero Waste plan is to remove food out of the waste stream through a coordinated effort across Baltimore’s major institutions and educational anchors to create a food waste collection and composting sector guided by a clear framework resulting in community economic development, environmental regeneration, and the creation of good sustainable jobs.  

Food makes up 30-40% of the waste stream. This means up to several hundreds of thousands of tons of food waste every year in the Greater Baltimore area. Currently, Baltimore lacks permitted composting infrastructure within 30 miles leading to food waste improperly disposed at landfills and the BRESCO incinerator. Incinerated food pollutes the air, makes us sick, and it is a major source of carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas that is causing the climate crisis and global warming. When we put food into landfills it decomposes and pumps dangerous methane gas into the atmosphere, a major cause of the climate crisis and global warming.

By developing local infrastructure in Baltimore to take food out of the waste stream we can:

1. Recover the value of 30-40% of the waste that is normally tossed aside in ways that endanger our communities, public health and worsen the climate crisis.
2. Create nutrient-rich compost that will help farmers fertilize their crops and keep the soil rich, replacing harmful chemical fertilizers.
3. Make it easier and cheaper to separate the non-food recyclables.
4. Use this compost to plant special grasses on public lands removing carbon from the atmosphere to advance Maryland’s goals of a net-zero carbon footprint.
5. Transform our communities by providing good union jobs that are secure and permanent.

Now is the time for Baltimore's leading institutions and officials to make the choice to catalyze development of the infrastructure Baltimore needs to create a just transition to Zero Waste.  

Compliance with Maryland’s Organics Recycling and Waste Diversion - Food Residuals Act

This 2021 legislation requires large-scale food waste producers to reduce their food residuals and waste or to source-separate their food residuals if an organics recycling or composting facility is within a 30-mile radius and has the capacity and is willing to accept food residuals.

It specifically covers local school systems, nonpublic schools; supermarkets, convenience stores, mini-marts, business, school, or institutional cafeterias; and cafeterias operated by or on behalf of the State or a local government.  The law is effective January 1, 2023 and its final phase starts January 1, 2024.

Opportunity: Most entities covered by Maryland’s Food Waste Diversion Act will find it challenging to develop from scratch a local zero-waste food collection and processing system that will help them comply with the new law. In Baltimore City, its Mayor, City Council, community organizations and institutions have become strong drivers for Baltimore’s Zero-waste policy and have anticipated this transformation. What will be a challenge to other localities in Maryland has become an opportunity for Baltimore’s elected officials and communities to transform rapidly to its zero-waste system and be pioneering leaders in the development of this promising new sector of the economy. The first step will be to build composting and specialized food waste collection infrastructure at a scale capable of processing all the organic waste from the leading higher education institutions in and near Baltimore City and County. This zero-waste system will be built to be scalable to potentially include collection and processing for all commercial and residential food waste.

Challenge: No single institution generates the scale of food waste material needed to make a collection/processing venture sustainable and there is no single food collection enterprise serving all institutions, as of yet. Moreover, there is no certified food composting facility in Baltimore City ready to handle this challenge. Multi-institutional procurement will need to be created amongst universities, colleges and schools to achieve the economies of scale necessary to justify the creation of a reliable and cost effective food waste collection/processing infrastructure.