Good News, Bad News Regarding Wasted Food and Plastic
Posted by Eco-Products on Apr 14th 2016
Two recent reports have shed some new light on the realities of waste diversion here in the US and beyond. While there are definitely some depressing statistics here, there is also reason for optimism, particularly as it relates to the roles that compostable packaging and commercial composting can play in increasing diversion rates when wasted food is part of the material stream.
Wasted Food
- Bad news? Every year, 40% of food is wasted globally, while 1 in 7 Americans is food insecure and we have a huge demand for healthy soil that could be created through composting.
- Good news? ReFED (Rethinking Food Waste through Economics and Data) outlined 27 solutions to reduce food waste in the US by 20%. We could annually divert 13M tons of food from landfills, generate 15,000 new jobs, and avoid nearly 18M tons of greenhouse gas emissions. With an $18B investment, this could generate $100B in societal economic value over a decade. Of the 27 solutions proposed, commercial composting has the greatest opportunity to keep food out of landfills – 5M tons.
Learn more: www.refed.com
Plastics
- Bad news? Nearly 75M tons of plastic packaging was produced in 2014. Today, only 14% of plastic packaging is captured for recycling, and only 10% is actually recycled into something new. If current trends continue, the plastics sector will account for 20% of total oil consumption by 2050.
- Good news? The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy report spells out how to reimagine our approach to this ubiquitous material. Specifically, increasing the use of compostable packaging in foodservice operations was identified as a key solution, along with other steps such as strengthening recycling markets and improving collection infrastructure to prevent plastics from ending up in the ocean.
Learn more: http://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org
Reports like these are a reminder for everyone at Eco-Products® of exactly why we do what we do. Please feel free to contact our Sustainability Maven at sustainabilitymaven@ecoproducts.com if you have questions or want to find out more about how we are using packaging to address critical sustainability issues.
