Sustainable Organic Materials Management Workgroup
Chair: Gary Sondermeyer (Bayshore Recycling)

Description: This Workgroup conducted a holistic review of current organic material management practices focusing on food waste reduction and donation; food waste management in schools; community scale composting; large-scale organics recycling infrastructure; and sustainable animal manure management. This review included an extensive stakeholder process with over 80 subject matter experts from a wide array of public and private sector organizations, including State, county and local government officials, academics, business and industry leaders, statewide associations, non-profit associations and consultants. This effort led to the development of a sustainable organics material management plan for the State of New Jersey by the NJCCA Organics Materials Management Workgroup. The plan includes 17 core “opportunities for action.” As a direct follow-up to the Sustainable Organic Material Management Plan, the New Jersey State Policy Lab partnered with the Organics Workgroup to conduct a collaborative project that outlines potential public policies for consideration in New Jersey based on experiences in a set of other states and cities in a variety of areas, including opportunities in state and municipal government, the health-care sector, the nonprofit sector, the agriculture sector, the waste management sector, local school systems, and institutions of higher education. This companion study report outlines 13 research initiatives and key findings, along with an additional section on the topic of reimagining prison food systems, a topic that repeatedly emerged during the research process.
Workgroup Products:
Sustainable Organic Material Management Plan
Advancing the New Jersey Sustainable Organic Material Management Plan: Opportunities to Increase Food Security and Reduce New Jersey’s Organic Waste