united-states food environmental local-authorities food-processing
Are there de minimis exceptions to &quot;food waste&quot; for trash collection?
<p>I'm interested in how <em>de minimis</em> principles can apply in law and especially started thinking about it after reading that certain cities require food waste to be put in a plastic bag. For example, <a href="https://www.north-olmsted.com/curbside-garbage-and-recycle-collection/#:%7E:text=FOOD%20WASTE%3A%20Items%20should%20be%20drained%2C%20wrapped%20and,etc.%20See%20our%20Household%20Hazardous%20Waste%20Collection%20Information." rel="nofollow noreferrer">this source</a> says that food waste &quot;should be drained, wrapped and placed in a plastic bag before placing in [a] garbage cart.&quot; Likewise, <a href="https://www.nridgeville.org/Downloads/Recycling_Info_Brochure_2022.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this PDF</a> for another city says that food waste should be &quot;drained, wrapped and placed in [a] plastic bag.&quot;</p>
<p>What then is food waste? According to <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/sustainable-management-food-basics#Food%20Waste" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the EPA</a>, even plate waste qualifies:</p>
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<p><strong>Food waste</strong> refers to food such as <strong>plate waste</strong> [emphasis mine] (i.e., food that has been served but not eaten), spoiled food, or peels and rinds considered inedible that is sent to feed animals, to be composted or anaerobically digested, or to be landfilled or combusted with energy recovery.</p>
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<p>While I could be wrong, I have trouble thinking that all uneaten food on a plate must be put in a plastic bag before being thrown away. If such were the case, would even food crumbs qualify as food waste, or would this exemplify a <em>de minimis</em> exception?</p>
<p><strong>Related:</strong> <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/77373/are-city-regulations-stating-food-waste-should-be-in-platic-bags-require-bags">Are city regulations stating food waste should be in &quot;platic bags&quot; require bags specifically for food waste?</a></p>

<p><em>De minimis</em> only applies when you are actually dealing with the law, that is, someone ends up in court.
I am unaware of any jurisdiction which makes it a crime to &quot;mishandle&quot; food waste. Usually, a company is granted a monopoly over waste management for residences in a certain jurisdiction, the government vaguely indicates what the service is supposed to do (sometimes because the recipient of the waste is a government-run waste facility), then the service communicates to customers what their policies will be. The use of &quot;should&quot; in such communications does not imply &quot;legally and enforceably must&quot;.</p>
<p>The waste management business has a contract with the individual to provide specified services, which may for example &quot;imply&quot; that you are not allowed to throw yard waste in regular trash. If your trash contains a leaf of grass, that might technically be contrary to their policy, but the possibilities of a consequence for the individual depends on what is in the contract. It is possible that a surcharge can be added to a bill, but typically this only happens in the case of egregious and repeated violations, with multiple prior notices.</p>
