Increased Levels of Food Waste Recycling Needed

Did you know that in the United States, the amount of unconsumed food has a dollar value of over one hundred and fifty billion dollars a year and has a weight of approximately twenty pounds of food per month per person? This amounts to over forty percent of all edible food in the country heading for waste disposal in landfills.

That amount of waste equals between one and two thousand dollars per year in annual losses for a household with four members. In comparison to other regions of the world, the typical American throws away ten times the amount of food as the typical person residing in southeast Asia.

Almost a quarter of all food waste is comprised of fruits and vegetables. Dairy products and meat/fish/poultry follow with twenty percent of all food waste per category.

The problem with uneaten food is that it is disposed of in landfills and is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas methane emissions. Cutting food waste disposal and increasing food waste recycling would help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce landfill space, and help agriculture composting and soil replenishing efforts in addition to feeding families who do not have a stable supply of food

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: What are you doing at home or work to reduce the amount of food that must be thrown in the garbage? Investigating ways to compost, donate, or make smarter purchasing decisions can not only help the environment and your community, but save you close to two thousand dollars a year!