AUGUSTA — A bill sponsored by Rep. Joan Welsh, D-Rockport, could help reduce Mainers' trash output by encouraging the state to expand composting and energy recovery from food waste and other organic wastes.

Both environmental advocates and businesses that manage organic waste testified in support of Welsh's bill at a public hearing before the Environment and Natural Resources Committee Monday.

"We have yet to achieve the 50-percent waste recycling goal established in law back in 1989," said Welsh in a news release. "Diverting more organic waste will help us reach that goal, extend the life of our landfills, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, generate more energy and create new business opportunities in this field."

Welsh's bill directs the Department of Environmental Protection to find ways to reduce the amount of food that enters the waste stream by exploring options for diverting more food toward hunger relief programs and farm animal consumption.

The measure would line Maine up with the Environmental Protection Agency's "Food Recovery Hierarchy" that prioritizes reduction of food waste and feeding hungry people and animals before organic waste conversion and composting technologies. Many businesses in Maine already are reducing organic waste by donating unsold food to hunger relief efforts.

Studies have identified organic waste as the most important remaining segment of the waste stream for which increased source separation and recycling efforts are needed. In Maine, organic waste comprises as much as 40 percent of the municipal solid waste currently going to our landfills and waste-to-energy facilities.

Kevin Roche, general manager of Ecomaine, a solid waste and recycling company active throughout Maine, testified that Welsh's bill could help his business and similar business tap the growing market for organic waste and eventually expand composting operations.

Currently, cities and states are pursuing innovative approaches for organic waste reduction and recycling, including in Vermont and Massachusetts. In Maine, businesses like Garbage to Garden, We Compost It! and Exeter Agri-Energy are creating new opportunities for Maine people and businesses to recycle their organic waste.

The Environment and Natural Resources Committee will make a recommendation on the bill to the full Legislature in the coming days. For more information, go to: legislature.maine.gov/LawMakerWeb/summary.asp?ID=280055140.

Welsh, the House chair of the Environment and Natural Resource Committee, is serving her fourth term in the Maine House and represents Camden, Rockport and Islesboro.