Sustainable Management of Food

  • EPA Releases New Report on Cost of Wasted Food

    Did you know that the average family of four wastes almost $3,000 per year on food that is never eaten? What could you buy with money saved from wasting less food? Check out EPA’s new report.

  • EPA Posts New Version of the Excess Food Opportunities Map

    Check out Version 3.1, which now shows over 960,000 potential excess food generators and just under 15,000 potential recipients of excess food in the industrial, commercial, and institutional sectors.

  • New Infographics on Food Waste, Composting, and Climate

    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!

  • 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.

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
Local and Regional Resources

Find out about regional wasted food prevention and diversion opportunities, initiatives and resources.

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. 

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Last updated on April 7, 2025