Food waste is one of the biggest challenges that the world faces today, contributing to climate change and resource depletion. Many cities and governments are taking action on this issue through legislation. For example, the US state of Massachusetts has banned large food waste generators from disposing of food waste in the trash. More recently, the EU has introduced a new requirement for the separate collection of food waste by 2023.
“A ban can never stand alone. It is important to take a comprehensive approach to a ban.”
– John Fischer –
“One general principle if we are focusing on food waste is to try to collect it alone, as clean as you can, and for economic sustainability, try and reduce it at the same time.”
– Marco Ricci – Jürgensen –
John Fischer
Branch Chief, MassDep
John Fischer is Branch Chief for Commercial Waste Reduction and Waste Planning at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP). In this position, he coordinates MassDEP’s programs to advance waste reduction, recycling and composting by businesses and institutions in Massachusetts. John also oversees development and implementation of Massachusetts’ Solid Waste Master Plan, solid waste and recycling data, the Solid Waste Advisory Committee, and disaster debris planning.
Marco Ricci – Jürgensen
Altereko Consulting
Marco is an expert who conceives waste and recycling issues going beyond technical details, having acquired experience also in institutional, socio-economic topics and prosumer-related issues. Since 2013 he is the Chair of ISWA’s Working Group on Biological Treatment of Waste (WGBTW), which addresses the biological treatment of the organic fraction of solid waste through aerobic and anaerobic decomposition processes. Marco has 20 years of experience in planning MSW management, designing and upgrading collection and transport schemes, assessing recycling facilities (focus on composting), planning communication and participation initiatives, chairing multi-linguistic, multi-tasking working groups or projects