Posted: Nov 11, 2025

Food waste bans are spreading across the United States, yet few have produced measurable reductions in landfilled waste. Massachusetts is a notable exception.

A 2024 Science study found that Massachusetts was the only state where a commercial food waste ban correlated with a statistically significant decline in waste sent to landfills. While ReFED and other organizations identified some limitations in the study, the overall trend is clear: Massachusetts has achieved measurable results where others have not.

As The Boston Globe reported, “Massachusetts has quietly pulled off one of the nation’s most successful food waste reduction efforts, thanks to practical rules, early investment, and strong business support.”

This article explores how the Commonwealth aligned policy with strategic investments in infrastructure and technical assistance to create a practical, scalable model, and how the ReFED Catalytic Grant Fund is helping that model expand across the country.