NNY • July 16, 2021
Grocery store chain Hannaford Supermarkets made headlines recently by declaring that for an entire year it had not sent any spoiled or outdated food to landfills, where the organic decomposition process produces methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases. Instead, Hannaford is contracting with an anaerobic food reprocesser in Maine to strip the food from its packaging, mix it with microbes and manure, and turn it into fuel, fertilizer and bedding for dairy cows. At least eight states have laws requiring some reprocessing of food waste, to keep it out of landfills and cut down on greenhouse gases. Maine does not have a law that requires food waste be kept out of landfills, according to Paula Clark, director of the division of materials management in the Maine DEP. She said, “We were not comfortable that Maine has sufficient capacity in composting or anaerobic digesting.” The state is focused on providing grants and advice to help municipalities construct those facilities.