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Commissioner
Bonnie
Heiple
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
Commissioner Bonnie Heiple, As a resident of Massachusetts, I am writing to urge you to prioritize reducing food waste and keeping it out of the trash in our state. As you know, Massachusetts generates 6 million tons of garbage every year, and nearly a third of that trash is food waste. That waste ends up in landfills and incinerators with public health and climate consequences. Food waste decomposing in a landfill emits the greenhouse gas methane. In Massachusetts, the emissions from these landfills are the equivalent of driving more than 39,000 gas-powered cars for a year. We also have five municipal solid waste incinerators, most of which are in environmental justice communities. Low-income, Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities already shoulder outsized burdens of health-harming pollution. By continuing to burn trash in vulnerable communities, we’re perpetuating a toxic cycle. We need to keep food waste out of the trash! While the Bay State has made big strides toward reducing and diverting food waste, the reality is that if we’re going to meet our 2030 goals, we need to more than double our rate of organic waste diversion. I urge you to prioritize combating food waste in our state by strengthening waste reduction policies, expanding the scope of the Organics Waste Ban, and establishing new requirements for a statewide composting program. By doing so, we can protect our environment, reduce methane emissions, and work towards a more sustainable future for Massachusetts. Thank you for your attention to this critical issue. Sincerely, {user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}
{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name} {user_data~Address 1}, {user_data~Address 2} {user_data~City}, {user_data~State or Province} {user_data~ZIP Code}
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