{"id":3744,"date":"2018-04-02T16:30:46","date_gmt":"2018-04-02T21:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/2019\/03\/27\/food-waste-recycling-the-where-and-the-how\/"},"modified":"2020-01-29T10:28:17","modified_gmt":"2020-01-29T16:28:17","slug":"food-waste-recycling-the-where-and-the-how","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/food-waste-recycling-the-where-and-the-how\/","title":{"rendered":"Food Waste Landfill Ban: Recycling Food Waste, The Where and The How"},"content":{"rendered":"

Food waste is by no means a new\u00a0issue. Concerns about access to\u00a0<\/span>nutrition and edible food being wasted\u00a0<\/span>stretch back centuries. The current\u00a0<\/span>food waste issue in the U.S. involves\u00a0<\/span>a focus on the scale of the problem\u00a0<\/span>and the environmental and financial\u00a0<\/span>drawbacks that come along with\u00a0<\/span>such a substantial level of waste.\u00a0<\/span>Organizations that generate a lot of\u00a0<\/span>food waste, from restaurants and\u00a0<\/span>grocery stores to universities and large\u00a0<\/span>hospitals, have plenty of incentives to\u00a0<\/a><\/span>reduce<\/a> and eventually eliminate such\u00a0<\/span>refuse. Not only are there financial\u00a0<\/span>benefits, but opportunities to appeal\u00a0<\/span>to stakeholders and help the local\u00a0<\/span>and global environment as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

UNDERSTANDING THE\u00a0MAGNITUDE OF THE\u00a0<\/span>FOOD WASTE ISSUE<\/span><\/h4>\n

Food waste is the single largest\u00a0component of the country\u2019s overall\u00a0<\/span>waste stream, accounting for roughly\u00a0<\/span>21 percent of the total amount\u00a0<\/span>of garbage reaching landfills and\u00a0<\/span>incinerators. Considering 20 percent\u00a0<\/span>of methane emissions come from\u00a0<\/span>landfills, the connection between food\u00a0<\/span>waste and pollution is clear. Another\u00a0<\/span>way to take stock of this issue is\u00a0<\/span>to consider how much food is left\u00a0<\/span>uneaten. USDA projections find waste\u00a0<\/span>accounts for between 30-40 percent\u00a0<\/span>of the total food supply, a staggering\u00a0<\/span>figure that helps contextualize the\u00a0<\/span>sheer volume of waste seen across all\u00a0<\/span>industries and steps in the\u00a0<\/span>supply chain.\u00a0<\/span>Food waste is an issue for several\u00a0<\/span>reasons. The production of methane\u00a0<\/span>and other waste gases that contribute\u00a0<\/span>to climate change is an important\u00a0<\/span>factor to consider, but far from the\u00a0<\/span>only one. The number of people in the\u00a0<\/span>U.S. that lack regular, secure access\u00a0<\/span>to food is another point to consider.\u00a0<\/span>About 42 million Americans live in\u00a0<\/span>food insecure households, meaning\u00a0<\/span>they have impediments to consistent\u00a0<\/span>access to safe, edible foods.<\/span><\/p>\n

Check out\u00a0<\/span>Food Waste Recycling: The Where and the How <\/strong><\/a>to learn more about how to recycle food waste in different states. This in-depth look at regulations from across the country is a great guide to getting a food waste recycling program established.<\/p>\n

Food waste is an issue for several reasons. The production of methane and other waste gases that contribute to climate change is an important factor to consider, but far from the only one. The number of people in the U.S. that lack regular, secure access to food is another point to consider. About 42 million Americans live in food insecure households, meaning they have impediments to consistent access to safe, edible foods.<\/span><\/p>\n

The financial costs of food waste must also be addressed. A USDA estimate found $161 billion in food waste per year. Simply put, businesses lose money when they waste food. Reducing food waste helps address all of these problems. That means correcting a single issue through minimizing food waste provides a wide range of powerful benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Food waste is by no means a new\u00a0issue. Concerns about access to\u00a0nutrition and edible food being wasted\u00a0stretch back centuries. The current\u00a0food waste issue in the U.S. involves\u00a0a focus on the scale of the problem\u00a0and the environmental and financial\u00a0drawbacks that come along with\u00a0such a substantial level of waste.\u00a0Organizations that generate a lot of\u00a0food waste, from restaurants…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":3758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[27,58,3221,3222],"class_list":["post-3744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-restaurant-solutions-blog","tag-food-waste-recycling","tag-organics-recycling","tag-food-waste-landfill-ban","tag-regulations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/questrmg.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}