251596
Version
ORIGINAL
Reference
221233, 231821
Sponsor
THE CHAIR
Title
Resolution authorizing a $75,000 service contract between the State of Wisconsin, Department of Natural Resources and City of Milwaukee Environmental Collaboration Office through its FEED MKE program to provide non-regulatory technical assistance to Wisconsin food waste generators and entities on projects to prevent and divert food waste from landfills.
Analysis
This resolution authorizes the Environmental Collaboration Office (ECO) to execute a technical service contract with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to provide expert food waste reduction assistance to large-scale generators. By securing this $75,000 contract, the City of Milwaukee establishes itself as a cross-sector, state-wide leader, triangulating service delivery between municipal, state, and federal levels to address the climate crisis.
The program directly supports "Waste Reduction and Sustainable Consumption," one of the "10 Big Ideas" in the Milwaukee Climate and Equity Plan. While previous USDA-funded FEED MKE efforts focused on grassroots recovery and composting, this contract leverages CET Certified Food Waste Assessors to provide commercial-scale technical expertise.
By utilizing the ReFED Insights Engine and the EPA’s Wasted Food Scale, ECO will share aggregate data-including tonnage diverted, water resources saved, and labor cost reductions-with the DNR and EPA. This collaborative approach ensures that Milwaukee’s local successes in commercial food waste prevention serve as a data-backed model for state-wide policy and federal reporting, institutionalizing the City's commitment to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Body
Whereas, the City of Milwaukee’s Climate and Equity Plan identifies "Waste Reduction and Sustainable Consumption" as a "Big Idea" to reduce methane-causing food waste in landfills; and
Whereas, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR...
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