Data for: Of the first five US states with food waste bans, Massachusetts alone has reduced landfill waste

Diverting food waste from landfills is crucial to reducing emissions and meeting Paris Agreement targets. Between 2014 and 2024, nine US states banned commercial waste generators---such as grocery chains---from landfilling food waste, expecting a 10–15% waste reduction. However, no evaluation of these bans exists. We compile a comprehensive waste dataset covering 36 US states between 1996 and 2019 to evaluate the first five implemented state-level bans. Contrary to policymakers' expectations, we can reject aggregate waste reductions higher than 4.0%, and cannot reject a zero-null aggregate effect. Moreover, we cannot reject a zero-null effect for any other state except Massachusetts, which gradually achieved a 13.1% reduction. Our findings reveal the need to reassess food waste bans, using Massachusetts as a benchmark for success.

Methods
The raw data for this paper have been received by individual states in PDF or Excel files. (For each state, there might be several PDF or Excel files for each year.) In the data we uploaded on GitHub, we transferred these raw data (the various PDFs and Excel files) into a single CSV file and have created a standardized waste outcome---specifically, state-generated, municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal. In the README file, we include more details regarding all the other supporting data and code we have used.