The Climate Case

Globally, food waste contributes about 8% of the total greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) – nearly as much as global road transport emissions! [1] In the U.S., nearly 40% of the food we produce goes to waste -- more than 62 million tons of the food we grow, process, and bring to market each year is never eaten.[2] Reducing U.S. food waste by 20% within the next decade could prevent 18 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year.[3]

Roughly 43% of all food waste comes from households while the remainder is spread throughout the food supply chain: 40% from consumer-facing businesses such as distributors, retail grocers, restaurants, food service providers, 16% from farms, and 2% from food manufacturing.[3]

Businesses that commit to reducing food waste in their supply chains can reduce their climate change impacts while increasing their profits. Preventing food loss at the source reduces costs by saving ingredients, packaging, labor, and waste removal. It also prevents the waste of the water, energy, and other resources that went into producing the food.

There are abundant opportunities to prevent food waste at every phase, including:

• Standardized date labeling
• Consumer education
• Produce specifications
• Manufacturing line optimization
• Cold chain management
• Embracing “ugly” produce
• Waste tracking and packaging innovations technologies

Innovative solutions for food waste recovery can divert food to higher value uses including feeding hungry people, animals, industrial fuel conversion and energy recovery, and more, thereby reducing the need for additional food and feed.

Take Action

Many companies get started by conducting a food waste audit to identify opportunities for improvements throughout the supply chain. Next steps include tracking food waste, setting goals, measuring progress utilizing existing tools and standards, and implementing actions for waste prevention and recovery.[4]

Cost-effective and scalable ways to reduce food waste vary within the supply chain. While farmers, manufacturers, retailers and restaurants might focus on different process improvements to reduce food waste, there are considerable opportunities for working with supply chain partners.

Companies committing to reducing food waste in their supply chain will be expected to complete a short annual questionnaire updating the Climate Collaborative on progress made toward the commitment.

Resources

Access more resources to help support your food waste work

• Make a Food Waste Commitment through the Climate Collaborative
• Visit our Food Waste Resources to access case studies, videos, tools, and other resources from our partners.

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COMPANIES COMMITTED TO ADDRESSING FOOD WASTE