Sustainable Management of Food

New Infographics on Food Waste, Composting, and Climate Change

Check out EPA’s two new infographics and learn about the climate change impacts of wasted food from the farm to your fork and why you should compost instead of landfilling your food scraps.

Then read about Preventing Wasted Food at Home – you can make a difference!
New $39 Million Funding Opportunity

On September 16, 2024, EPA announced an exciting funding opportunity to:
- Develop and implement a national consumer wasted food reduction campaign.
- Expand the market and sales of compost.
- Increase education and outreach to households on composting.
Read about this Notice of Funding Opportunity. Apply by December 20, 2024.
Final National Strategy

EPA, USDA, and FDA are pleased to announce the “National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics.”
- Read the press release.
Wasted Food Scale

EPA released new recommendations on how to manage wasted food. Preventing food from going to waste in the first place is the best option for reducing environmental impacts. Check out the graphic, available in eight languages.

The Wasted Food Scale is based on research on the environmental impacts of food waste management pathways. Check out EPA's report on methane emissions from landfilled food waste.

Understanding the Issues

What Businesses and Organizations Can Do

What Individuals and Communities Can Do

someone peeling a cucumber and putting the peels in the compost bin right next to the cutting board that has eggshells and other fruit and vegetable scraps in it.

To learn more about the Wasted Food Scale click on the image below.

EPA’s Wasted Food Scale is a curved spectrum showing options for reducing the environmental impacts of wasted food, from most preferred to least preferred. The options are to prevent wasted food, donate food, upcycle food, feed animals, leave food unharvested, use anaerobic digestion with beneficial use of digestate or biosolids, compost, use anaerobic digestion without beneficial use of digestate or biosolids, or apply food waste to the land. Sending food waste down the drain, landfilling, and incineration

Our Newsletter

Sign up today! Our "In the Loop with EPA: Circular Economy Updates" newsletter shares announcements and funding opportunities from EPA and our partners on the topics of food waste, recycling, municipal solid waste, and the built environment. You can also read our previous newsletters.

Sustainable Management of Food

New Infographics on Food Waste, Composting, and Climate Change

New $39 Million Funding Opportunity

Final National Strategy

Wasted Food Scale

Understanding the Issues

What Businesses and Organizations Can Do

What Individuals and Communities Can Do