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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 5577
January Session, 2023
AN ACT CONCERNING SURPLUS FOOD DONATION AND
ESTABLISHING FOOD COMPOSTING REQUIREMENTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 22a-226e of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2023): 2
(a) (1) On and after January 1, 2014, each commercial food 3
wholesaler or distributor, industrial food manufacturer or processor, 4
supermarket, resort or conference center that is located not more than 5
twenty miles from an authorized source-separated organic material 6
composting facility and that generates an average projected volume of 7
not less than one hundred four tons per year of source-separated 8
organic materials shall: (A) Separate such source-separated organic 9
materials from other solid waste; and (B) ensure that such source-10
separated organic materials are recycled at any authorized source-11
separated organic material composting facility that has available 12
capacity and that will accept such source-separated organic material. 13
(2) On and after January 1, 2020, each commercial food wholesaler 14
or distributor, industrial food manufacturer or processor, supermarket, 15
resort or conference center that is located not more than twenty miles 16
from an authorized source-separated organic material composting 17
facility and that generates an average projected volume of not less than 18 Substitute Bill No. 5577
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fifty-two tons per year of source-separated organic materials shall: (A) 19
Separate such source-separated organic materials from other solid 20
waste; and (B) ensure that such source-separated organic materials are 21
recycled at any authorized source-separated organic material 22
composting facility that has available capacity and that will accept 23
such source-separated organic material. 24
(3) On and after January 1, 2022, each commercial food wholesaler 25
or distributor, industrial food manufacturer or processor, supermarket, 26
resort or conference center that is located not more than twenty miles 27
from an authorized source-separated organic material composting 28
facility and that generates an average projected volume of not less than 29
twenty-six tons per year of source-separated organic materials shall: 30
(A) Separate such source-separated organic materials from other solid 31
waste; and (B) ensure that such source-separated organic materials are 32
recycled at any authorized source-separated organic material 33
composting facility that has available capacity and that will accept 34
such source-separated organic material. 35
(b) Any such wholesaler, distributor, manufacturer, processor, 36
supermarket, resort or conference center that performs composting of 37
source-separated organic materials on site or treats source-separated 38
organic materials via on-site organic treatment equipment permitted 39
pursuant to the general statutes or federal law shall be deemed in 40
compliance with the provisions of this section. 41
(c) Any permitted source-separated organic material composting 42
facility that receives such source-separated organic materials shall 43
report to the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection, 44
as part of such facility's reporting obligations, a summary of fees 45
charged for receipt of such source-separated organic materials. 46
(d) Not later than January 1, [2022] 2024, the Commissioner of 47
Energy and Environmental Protection shall [establish a voluntary pilot 48
program for any] require each municipality [that seeks] to separate 49
source-separated organic materials and ensure that such source-50 Substitute Bill No. 5577
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separated organic materials are recycled at authorized source-51
separated organic material composting facilities that have available 52
capacity and that will accept such source-separated organic material. 53
(e) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this 54
section, each commercial food wholesaler or distributor, industrial 55
food manufacturer or processor, supermarket, resort or conference 56
center in this state shall adopt a written policy describing a food 57
donation program that: 58
(1) Is designed to reduce such wholesaler's, distributor's, 59
manufacturer's, processor's, supermarket's, resort's or conference 60
center's food waste, support the operations of food relief organizations 61
and ensure that all food donated by such wholesaler, distributor, 62
manufacturer, processor, supermarket, resort or conference center 63
under such policy is safe and fit for human consumption; 64
(2) Provides for the education of such wholesaler's, distributor's, 65
manufacturer's, processor's, supermarket's, resort's or conference 66
center's management and employees regarding the food distribution 67
process and the relationship between such process and food insecurity 68
and food waste; 69
(3) Calls for such wholesaler, distributor, manufacturer, processor, 70
supermarket, resort or conference center to make reasonable efforts to 71
identify, and partner with, not less than two food relief organizations 72
for the purpose of donating excess edible food to such food relief 73
organizations prior to any such food becoming source-separated 74
organic material, as described in subsections (a) and (b) of this section; 75
(4) Includes a framework to formalize and streamline such 76
wholesaler's, distributor's, manufacturer's, processor's, supermarket's, 77
resort's or conference center's protocols concerning food donation; and 78
(5) Includes a process to ensure that the food donated as part of 79
such program has significant nutritional value. 80 Substitute Bill No. 5577
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(f) If multiple supermarkets, resorts or conference centers subject to 81
the provisions of subsection (b) of this section are under common 82
ownership, such supermarkets, resorts or conference centers may 83
adopt a common written policy under this section. 84
(g) For purposes of this subsection, "food relief organization" has the 85
same meaning as provided in section 38a-313c. 86
Sec. 2. Section 22a-241b of the general statutes is repealed and the 87
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 88
(a) (1) On or before February 1, 1988, the Commissioner of Energy 89
and Environmental Protection shall adopt regulations in accordance 90
with the provisions of chapter 54 designating items that are required to 91
be recycled. The commissioner may designate other items as suitable 92
for recycling and amend such regulations accordingly. 93
(2) On or before October 1, 2011, the Commissioner of Energy and 94
Environmental Protection shall amend the regulations adopted 95
pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection to expand the list of 96
designated recyclable items to add (A) containers of three gallons or 97
less made of polyethylene terephthalate plastic and high-density 98
polyethylene plastic, and (B) additional types of paper, including, but 99
not limited to, boxboard, magazines, residential high-grade white 100
paper and colored ledger. On or before October 1, 2023, the 101
commissioner shall amend the regulations adopted pursuant to 102
subdivision (1) of this subsection to expand the list of designated 103
recyclable items to add food scraps. Such regulations shall include best 104
practices for residential customers to separate food scraps from other 105
solid waste and other items designated as recyclable pursuant to this 106
subsection. 107
(b) Any designated recyclable item shall be recycled by a 108
municipality within six months of the availability of service to such 109
municipality by a regional processing center or local processing 110
system, including, but not limited to, an authorized source-separated 111 Substitute Bill No. 5577
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organic material composting facility or a composting facility. 112
(c) Each person who generates solid waste from residential property 113
shall, in accordance with subsection (f) of section 22a-220, separate 114
from other solid waste the items designated for recycling pursuant to 115
[subdivision (1) of] subsection (a) of this section. 116
(d) Every person who generates solid waste from a property other 117
than a residential property shall, in accordance with subsection (f) of 118
section 22a-220, make provision for and cause the separation from 119
other solid waste of the items designated for recycling pursuant to 120
[subdivision (1) of] subsection (a) of this section through the use of one 121
or more collection containers for designated recyclable items that are 122
separate from the collection containers for other solid waste. Collection 123
containers that have been used for the collection of solid waste may be 124
converted to containers for the collection of designated recyclable 125
items by labeling or other means to identify that such container is 126
dedicated to collecting designated recyclable items. On and after July 127
1, 2012, the provisions of this subsection shall also apply to items 128
designated for recycling pursuant to subdivision (2) of subsection (a) 129
of this section. On and after October 1, 2023, the provisions of this 130
subsection shall also apply to food scraps. 131
(e) No person shall knowingly combine previously segregated 132
designated recyclable items with other solid waste. 133
(f) For the purposes of this section, "boxboard" means a lightweight 134
paperboard made from a variety of recovered fibers having sufficient 135
folding properties and thickness to be used to manufacture folding or 136
set-up boxes. 137
Sec. 3. Section 22a-241i of the general statutes is repealed and the 138
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2023): 139
Notwithstanding any other sections of the general statutes to the 140
contrary, a municipality may impose a penalty not to exceed: [five] (1) 141
Five hundred dollars for each violation by a commercial establishment 142 Substitute Bill No. 5577
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of the requirements of subsection [(c)] (d) of section 22a-241b, as 143
amended by this act, and (2) fifty dollars for each violation by the 144
owner of a residential property of the requirements of subsection (c) of 145
section 22a-241b, as amended by this act. 146
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2023 22a-226e
Sec. 2 from passage 22a-241b
Sec. 3 October 1, 2023 22a-241i
ENV Joint Favorable Subst.