Lawmakers today will hear a proposal to allow the commercial composting of meat and dairy. The bill began with a group headed by a former UNH student.
The Post Landfill Action Network, or PLAN, got its start as a sort of student-run rummage sale, where students were encouraged to sell furniture and other items, rather than throw them out when they leave campus each year.
PLANs founder, Alex Fried, has since gone professional with his advocacy, starting a small non-profit.
One of their current projects is pushing to make UNH’s football stadium a zero-waste facility.
The only problem, Fried says, is "UNH doesn't have the facilities, or even the legal ability to collect that type of material."
Because meat gets mixed in with compost at UNH, it’s not allowed to put out compost bins in public places.
Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts all allow the commercial composting of meat and dairy, so Fried’s group contacted their legislators, and Senator Martha Fuller Clark agreed to sponsor a bill that will get it’s hearing today.