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The fight for a foam-free Baltimore
This week, a bill to ban styrofoam food packages was approved by Baltimore City's Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Thanks to incredible organizing by the student-led group Baltimore Beyond Plastic, who brought hundreds of elementary, middle, and high school students to rally and testify in support of the bill, it received unanimous committee support. Below are the comments we submitted on behalf of this bill. Kudos to the kids who made it possible!
DATE: February 5, 2018 TO: Judiciary and Legislative Investigations Committee FROM: Clean Water Action POSITION: Support RE: Council Bill 17
Baltimore City Council stands up for cleaner air from BRESCO
The BRESCO trash incinerator is the largest air polluter in Baltimore, wastes what could be a valuable resource for local businesses using zero waste practices, and connects with a system of steam pipes that put residents and visitors of Baltimore at risk. In May, the City Council passed a groundbreaking resolution committing the city to zero waste goals as a step to phase out the incinerator. That's a long-term goal with a lot of steps in between - from increasing recycling and diversion to changing packaging practices to building new businesses based on repurposing waste - and in the
Food Waste out of the Trash
Legislation passed in 2021 to require large food waste generators to divert their waste away from landfill or trash incinerator if an organic recycling facility is nearby that can take their waste.
Food waste is a persistent problem, with over 25% of the overall food supply at the retail and consumer level going uneaten and wasted. Disposing of our organic material in landfills and incinerators contributes to climate change. Whether landfilled or burned, the waste generates methane and carbon dioxide. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that is 86 times more potent in causing the climate to
Fighting climate change with food waste in Baltimore
More food reaches landfills and incinerators than any other single material in municipal solid waste. Food waste contributes 20% of all materials in landfills; in restaurants, it is estimated that a half-pound of food waste is created for every meal served. One recent study indicates that “the U.S. restaurant sector generates 11 million tons of food waste annually (7 million tons from full-service restaurants and 4 million tons from limited-service restaurants), the full cost of which is more than $25 billion” – most of which enters landfills. In a 2014 study, Food Waste Reduction Alliance
From Trash Incineration to Zero Waste in Maryland
How communities across Maryland handle their solid waste has enormous impacts on local air quality, municipal budgets, and climate change.