Wash. Rev. Code § 70A.205.715
RCW 70A.205.715
Finding-Intent- 2019 c 255 : "(1) The legislature finds that the wasting of food represents a misuse of resources, including the water, land, energy, labor, and capital that go into growing, harvesting, processing, transporting, and retailing food for human consumption. Wasting edible food occurs all along the food production supply chain, and reducing the waste of edible food is a goal that can be achieved only with the collective efforts of growers, processors, distributors, retailers, consumers of food, and food bankers and related charities. Inedible food waste can be managed in ways that reduce negative environmental impacts and provide beneficial results to the land, air, soil, and energy infrastructure. Efforts to reduce the waste of food and expand the diversion of food waste to beneficial end uses will also require the mindful support of government policies that shape the behavior and waste reduction opportunities of each of those participants in the food supply chain.
(2) Every year, American consumers, businesses, and farms spend billions of dollars growing, processing, transporting, and disposing of food that is never eaten. That represents tens of millions of tons of food sent to landfills annually, plus millions of tons more that are discarded or left unharvested on farms. Worldwide, the United Nations food and agriculture organization has estimated that if one-fourth of the food lost or wasted globally could be saved, it would be enough to feed eight hundred seventy million hungry people. Meanwhile, one in eight Americans is food insecure, including one in six children. Recent data from the department of ecology indicate that Washington is not immune to food waste problems, and recent estimates indicate that seventeen percent of all garbage sent to Washington disposal facilities is food waste, including eight percent that is food that was determined to be edible at the time of disposal. In recognition of the widespread benefits that would accrue from reductions in food waste, in 2015, the administrator of the United States environmental protection agency and the secretary of the United States department of agriculture announced a national goal of reducing food waste by fifty percent by 2030. The Pacific Coast collaborative recently agreed to a similar commitment of halving food waste by 2030, including efforts to prevent, rescue, and recover wasted food.
(3) By establishing state wasted food reduction goals and developing a state wasted food reduction strategy, it is the intent of the legislature to continue its national leadership in solid waste reduction efforts by:
(a) Improving efficiencies in the food production and distribution system in order to reduce the cradle to grave greenhouse gas emissions associated with wasted food;
(b) Fighting hunger by more efficiently diverting surplus food to feed hungry individuals and families in need; and
(c) Supporting expansion of management facilities for inedible food waste to improve access and facility performance while reducing the volumes of food that flow through those facilities." [2019 c 255 s 1.]