Solid Waste Agency director briefs DuPage committee on food-recovery bill SB1398

Walter Willis, executive director of the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County, told the DuPage County environmental committee that Illinois Senate Bill 1398 would create a food-scrap hierarchy intended to cut waste and direct edible food to people and animals before composting or anaerobic digestion.

"What does this bill do and why should DuPage County think about supporting it?" Willis asked, and then described the bill’s priorities: reduce food waste first, then feed people, then feed animals, and finally compost or send material to anaerobic digesters. Willis said the measure would phase in requirements for covered establishments between 2028 and 2034 and that the legislation targets nonresidential, high-volume generators such as grocery stores, large restaurants, hotels and banquet halls.

Willis cited potential community benefits, including increased food donations, new jobs and greenhouse-gas reductions. He said similar laws in other states have prompted notable increases in donation and infrastructure investment. "It will create jobs," Willis said, noting Massachusetts estimates that diversion laws there produced thousands of jobs and substantial economic activity.

During questions, an attendee asked about greenhouse-gas figures. Willis referenced U.S. EPA studies and said "about 20% of the tonnage that goes in a landfill is food scrap and it's generating 58," which the committee discussed as a reference to the portion of landfill methane attributable to food waste. Willis also said the bill’s implementation assumes a ramp-up of collection and composting/digestion infrastructure and that the sponsors are seeking grants and other supports to expand the pipeline for donations and processing.

Committee members asked who would be covered. Willis said the drafters plan to focus on larger commercial generators and were preparing an amendment to remove or change a residential requirement and to prioritize larger counties, listing DuPage among counties expected in an earlier compliance group. Willis said the sponsors planned to file an amendment before the legislative reference-bureau deadline and to work the bill in 2026.

The committee did not take a vote on the bill; the presentation concluded with an agreement that Willis would provide follow-up information and that staff and members would continue to discuss the logistics and potential local impacts.

The committee’s discussion highlighted two practical points for DuPage: whether local donation and composting capacity can expand to absorb additional diverted material, and whether the county’s large grocery/processing businesses would need technical or financial supports to comply.