Video resources for Pollution Prevention (P2) Week

In a previous post, we noted that September 16-20, 2024 is Pollution Prevention (P2) Week, and highlighted some relevant projects of the ISTC Technical Assistance Program (TAP). To conclude the week, we’ve compiled some video resources that may be of interest, whether you’re unfamiliar with “pollution prevention” or a seasoned practitioner.

“Pollution prevention,” also known as “source reduction,” is any action that reduces, eliminates, or prevents pollution at its source before recycling, treatment, or disposal. While the term may at first evoke images of smokestacks spewing dirty clouds into the sky or pipes discharging visibly dirty liquids into waterways, P2 is not just for industrial facilities. We all use natural resources, and we all encounter materials at work, regardless of the sector we work within, or in our schools or homes that may cause harm to human or environmental health. So we all have opportunities to use raw materials, water, energy, and other resources more efficiently, or to substitute less harmful substances for hazardous ones. The old proverb, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” rings true in terms of protecting human and environmental health, as well as strengthening our economic well-being.

To learn more about P2, check out these videos:

  • What is Pollution Prevention? (1 minute, 5 seconds) from the U.S. EPA. This is a very basic overview.
  • Pollution Prevention Playlist (8 videos) from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ). This includes an explanation of the circular economy; tips for individuals such as donating goods, using reclaimed building materials, composting, and xeriscaping; and housekeeping tips for auto shops.
  • Pollution Prevention #P2 for Businesses (1 minute, 28 seconds). Also from ADEQ.
  • Pollution Prevention (P2) Mini-Webinar Series (5 brief videos per year). Each year the Minnesota Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP) produces a short video for each day of P2 Week. For 2024, videos include “Waste Hierarchies” presenting different strategies for managing waste, “Coffee Machines,” focused on an easy way to save energy, “Conductivity Probes,” focused on saving water in industrial settings, “Anesthetic Gases” on a surprising source of greenhouse gas emissions in healthcare settings, and “About MnTAP” introducing the organization and its services. Be sure to check out archives from past years, going back to 2021.

If you’d like to learn more about perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS):

To learn more about choosing safer products in a variety of settings including your home, check out the U.S. EPA Safer Choice Videos collection, also available in Spanish.

Instructors interested in integrating P2 into curricula should explore videos from last year’s “P2 Works” student storytelling challenge. High school and college students used the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) P2 Search Tool to identify facilities reporting source reduction practices. The students created videos telling a compelling story about how these case studies benefitted relevant businesses, communities, and the environment. Visit this website for descriptions and links to the winning videos.

A webinar recorded earlier this week by the Pollution Prevention Resource Center (PPRC) entitled “Pollution Prevention in EJ Communities” (1 hr., 8 min., 28 sec.) summarizes the results of a recent two-year project funded by the U.S. EPA, including adjustments made throughout the project for better reach, engagement, and service to participating businesses.

Finally, the ISTC Sustainability Seminar Series frequently features P2 topics. Visit the series webpage to learn more and explore archived recordings going back to 2007.

 

Pollution Prevention Week 2024: Together we are one planet

Pollution Prevention (P2) Week occurs every September and this year’s theme “Together We are One Planet” reminds us that individual actions can effect overall positive change in our environment. Are you ready to be a change-maker and move forward with plans for reducing environmental impacts at your organization?

With pollution prevention grants provided by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, the Technical Assistance Program (TAP) at the Prairie Research Institute’s Illinois Sustainable Technology Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign can assist you! These grants focus on assisting manufacturers within Illinois to identify areas at the product, process, and system level to minimize waste, improve energy, and increase resource efficiency. By creating a strategy for sustainable improvement, your organization can remain competitive and profitable, while protecting the environment.

Our outreach is statewide, and each grant may focus on specific sectors, areas, or training. We hope you will take a few minutes to review these opportunities and allow us to assist you.

Assistance is fully confidential, without cost, or obligation to implement recommendations. Our technical assistance specialists will work with you every step of the way, identifying opportunities for improvement, related cost savings, and guiding you through implementation, if desired.

You can schedule your free site visit today by filling out our online request form, or connect with our technical assistance team by contacting Irene Zlevor, izlevor@illinois.edu, 217-300-8617.

August 1, 2024, marks “Earth Overshoot Day”

Earth Overshoot Day Logog

Since 1971, the Global Footprint Network has calculated “Earth Overshoot Day” to highlight the impacts and implications of human resource consumption. As stated on the event website, “Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. We maintain this deficit by liquidating stocks of ecological resources and accumulating waste, primarily carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.”

“To determine the date of Earth Overshoot Day for each year, Global Footprint Network calculates the number of days of that year that Earth’s biocapacity suffices to provide for humanity’s Ecological Footprint. The remainder of the year corresponds to global overshoot. Earth Overshoot Day is computed by dividing the planet’s biocapacity (the amount of ecological resources Earth is able to generate that year), by humanity’s Ecological Footprint (humanity’s demand for that year), and multiplying by the number of days in a year. This year, as we are in a leap year, it is 366 days:

(Earth’s Biocapacity / Humanity’s Ecological Footprint) x 366 = Earth Overshoot Day”

In 2024, Earth Overshoot Day falls on August 1st.  Collectively, humanity would need 1.75 Earths to meet its resource demands.

The numbers get worse if you look at consumption at the country level. If everyone globally lived like the residents of the United States of America, Earth Overshoot Day would have occurred on March 14th this year, and humanity would need the equivalent of five Earths to match resource demands.

Graphic showing the relative environmental footprint of different countries.

See https://overshoot.footprintnetwork.org/2024-calculation/ to learn more about how this year’s Earth Overshoot Day was calculated.

Clearly, none of this is sustainable. So what can we do to #MoveTheDate later in the year, so our demands better match the ability of Earth to regenerate ecological resources? The Global Footprint Network presents potential solutions to pursue individually and collectively as “The Power of Possibility” in five main categories:

  • Cities: How we design and manage cities
  • Energy: How we power ourselves
  • Food: How we feed ourselves
  • Population: How many of us are there
  • Planet: How we help nature thrive

See https://overshoot.footprintnetwork.org/power-of-possibility/ to learn more about potential strategies in each of these categories in detail. For each strategy, the Earth Overshoot Day website explains how much implementation would shift the overshoot date and how the strategy is scalable. The website also provides classroom activities and a link to a personal environmental footprint calculator to help individuals understand their lifestyle impacts.

Dr. Mathis Wackernagel, who created the concept of the environmental footprint with Professor William E. Rees in the early 1990s, provides an online primer to understanding the implications of overshoot and how to respond. He states “Because the accumulated stock of nature is finite, overshoot will inevitably end as stock get depleted. The question, therefore, is not whether it will end, only how. It can end by design or by disaster – most likely it will be a combination of both.” Let’s work together to do our best to end overshoot by design.

#MoveTheDate graphic

ISTC is proud to be a 2024 Food Waste Prevention Week Partner

Proud to be a Food Waste Prevention Week Partner, April 1-7, 2024

Mark your calendars for Food Waste Prevention Week, scheduled to take place April 1-7 this year. 

In 2019 alone, EPA estimates that about 66 million tons of wasted food were generated in the food retail, food service, and residential sectors, and most of this waste (about 60%) was sent to landfills.  Food Waste Prevention Week is a collaborative effort to raise awareness about food waste and its negative impacts on our society and environment, while also sharing resources to help individuals, families, and organizations reduce their own food waste. Because its Technical Assistance Program (TAP) has experience working on food waste reduction and management projects, the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center is proud to be a partner organization for Food Waste Prevention Week for the second year in a row!

Be sure to check ISTC’s social media platforms during April 1-7, as we highlight some of the past and present work TAP is doing related to food waste, as well as facts and resources to help you on your food waste reduction journey. If you’re not already following us on social media, you can connect with us on:

Throughout the week, several partners across the U.S. will host webinars to inspire action to reduce food waste. For example:

  • Closing the Loop. On Monday, April 1, at noon Central, join an informative discussion on what food waste generators can do to sustainably process their waste via on- and off-site composting, biodigesters, anaerobic digesters, etc. Register here.
  • Harnessing the Power of Food Preferences for Overproduction Reduction. Unveil how individual eating preferences can be a game-changer in minimizing food waste in food services. Learn how culinary IDs are the key to precise production while offering diners a better, personalized experience at scale. This webinar will be on April 1 from 1-1:50 PM Central time. Register here.
  • USDA Programs, Investments, and Innovations to Prevent and Reduce Food Loss and Waste. On April 2, from 11 AM to noon Central, join Dr. Jean Buzby (USDA Food Loss and Waste Liaison) and a panel of leaders from across USDA (NIFA, OUAIP, FNS, and ARS) to learn about some of the ways the agency engages in food loss and waste prevention and reduction across the U.S. food supply chain. Register here.
  • Gleaning: Reduce Loss & Waste at the Farm. On April 3 from 3-3:50 PM Central, join the Society of St. Andrew’s experts on gleaning and learn about its impact. They will discuss the benefits of gleaning crops for farmers, local hunger relief agencies, and volunteers alike, the impact of SoSA’s work over 40+ years, and ways to get involved in your locale. Register here.
  • Food Production and Sustainability. This thought-provoking panel discussion of industry experts will explore the industrial perspective of the fight against food waste and share strategies for implementing sustainability without compromising operational effectiveness. Join the discussion April 4th from 10-10:50 AM CDT. Register here.
  • From Food Scraps to Soil Food: Starting a Drop-Off Program in Your Community.​ Learn how East Hampton Compost is growing awareness of food waste, diverting scraps from the waste stream and enriching local soils. A collaboration between ReWild Long Island and the Town of East Hampton, with local high school students staffing drop-off locations and working on outreach. Dive into the dirt to gain valuable insights into the challenges and rewards of piloting an all-volunteer initiative, as well as actionable strategies for starting one in your community. This webinar will be on April 4 from 2-2:50 PM. Register here.

See the Food Waste Prevention Week “Webinars” page for additional webinars scheduled for Food Waste Prevention Week, and learn more about other ways you can get involved at https://www.foodwastepreventionweek.com/get-involved.

What is Pollution Prevention?

US EPA Waste Management Hierarchy including pollution prevention
A version of the U.S. EPA Waste Management Hierarchy showing pollution prevention. See https://www.epa.gov/smm/sustainable-materials-management-non-hazardous-materials-and-waste-management-hierarchy for the more typical version.

September is a time to think about pollution prevention, aka P2, because the third week of September every year is celebrated as Pollution Prevention (P2) Week in the U.S. In 2023, P2 Week will be September 18-22. As you mark your calendar, you may ask yourself—what exactly is pollution prevention, and how can I contribute to the effort?

First, let’s take a moment to consider what pollution itself is. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines pollution as “any substances in water, soil, or air that degrade the natural quality of the environment, offend the senses of sight, taste, or smell, or cause a health hazard. The usefulness of the natural resource is usually impaired by the presence of pollutants and contaminants.” So, pollution is the contamination of the environment by potentially harmful substances. If you think of a polluted environment as analogous to a human body with harmful chemicals in it or disease, then it’s easy to think of pollution prevention as analogous to disease prevention. You’ve probably heard the old quote from Benjamin Franklin, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Although Franklin was talking about the prevention of house fires, in modern times, the phrase has come to be used in the sense of health care. It means that taking preventative measures (e.g., exercising, watching what you eat, getting enough sleep, etc.) is a much more sensible strategy to take, wherever possible, than waiting until disease sets in and then working to treat it. It’s far better to avoid a problem than to have to try to solve the problem afterward.

Thus, pollution prevention is the sensible strategy of preventing the release of harmful substances into the environment, aka source reduction, to avoid the negative impacts of pollution and the cost, time, energy, and other resources that would otherwise need to be expended on environmental clean-up after the fact. Or, as the U.S. EPA states, pollution prevention is “actively identifying equipment, processes, and activities which generate excessive wastes or use toxic chemicals and then making substitutions, alterations, or product improvements.” P2, or source reduction, “is fundamentally different and, where feasible, more desirable than recycling, treatment or disposal. It is often more cost effective to prevent pollution from being created at its source than to pay for control, treatment and disposal of waste products.  When less pollution is created, there are fewer impacts to human health and the environment.”

P2 practices for manufacturing and industrial sectors might entail using less toxic cleaners, less hazardous ingredients or process inputs, conserving energy and water, and reducing waste through the reuse of materials such as drums or pallets. Manufacturers and supporting industries in Illinois can also contact the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC ) Technical Assistance Program (TAP) to learn more about U.S. EPA-funded P2 assistance available free of charge to members of the aerospace, automotive, chemical, food and beverage, and metal manufacturing and fabrication sectors. See https://uofi.box.com/s/ypoep56408o4kk5pl0qpt2ojpwyo82qh and https://uofi.box.com/s/1crril27e0td9nd3j3njgh49mzoom0q5 for details.

The principles of P2 can be applied to any sector or effort and in homes and schools. It’s all about more efficient use of valuable resources, such as energy and water, using less-toxic materials and products, and avoiding the generation of waste so you don’t have to deal with as many disposal considerations. So, if you practice waste reduction by eliminating disposable products and single-use plastics, if you purchase and use energy-efficient appliances and weatherize your home for the winter, if you look for and fix leaky pipes or faucets, or if you use safer cleaners, you’re practicing P2!

Use the following resources to learn more about P2 and how you can contribute to “preventative medicine” for environmental health and our collective human health which depends upon a healthy environment.

TAP offers free sustainable manufacturing training for facilities in Illinois

Image of a grey vehicle being assembled in a factory
Photo by Lenny Kuhne on Unsplash

The Technical Assistance Program (TAP) within the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center at the University of Illinois is excited to announce an innovative training program under a grant funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The focus of this grant is to increase the competitiveness of Illinois manufacturers by reducing environmental impacts and costs. 

This program will provide eligible manufacturers in Illinois with training and skills needed to assess their operations through a sustainability lens, resulting in minimized waste and improved energy and resource efficiency, while protecting environmental and human health. By training facility personnel in proven methods to perform an assessment, participants can achieve cost savings and reductions in energy, water, and hazardous materials/waste methods. This model can be incorporated into company practices to repeat source reduction/pollution prevention savings efforts for years to come.

This grant-funded service explained in our flyer is delivered at no cost to manufacturers and their supporting industries across many sectors including aerospace; automotive; chemical; food & beverage; and metal finishing & fabrication.

The services provided by our team are fully confidential and completely free to manufacturers, with no obligation. Our technical assistance specialists work with your team to identify opportunities for continuous improvement and help guide you through the implementation process to ensure success in achieving sustainability goals and related cost savings. Note that priority for participation will be given to manufacturers in underserved communities, identified using the U.S. EPA’s EJScreen tool, though participation is not restricted to facilities in those communities. Other grant opportunities may be available to assist interested manufacturers.

TAP welcomes the opportunity to provide more details about this program. Please schedule your initial site visit today by filling out our online request form.  Questions? Contact Irene Zlevor, izlevor@illinois.edu, for additional information or to connect with a member of our technical assistance team!

Celebrate Pollution Prevention Week, Sept. 19-25, 2022

The 2022 P2 Week Poster, designed by Rowan Lambert, a senior mural artist at the University of New Orleans.

The third week of September every year is celebrated as Pollution Prevention (P2) Week in the U.S. Thus in 2022, we focus particularly on pollution prevention from September 19th to the 25th, although P2 can and should be a priority year-round.

As defined by the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable (NPPR, emphasis added), “Pollution is the contamination of air, soil, or water by the discharge of harmful substances. Pollution prevention is the reduction or elimination of pollution at the source (source reduction) instead of at the end-of-the-pipe or stack. Pollution prevention occurs when raw materials, water, energy and other resources are utilized more efficiently, when less harmful substances are substituted for hazardous ones, and when toxic substances are eliminated from the production process. By reducing the use and production of hazardous substances, and by operating more efficiently we protect human health, strengthen our economic well-being, and preserve the environment.”

Rather than being a burden on industry, NPPR points out that “Adopting pollution prevention practices and techniques often benefits industry by lowering a company’s operational and environmental compliance costs. By preventing the generation of waste, P2 can also reduce or eliminate long-term liabilities and clean-up costs. Furthermore, disposal costs are reduced when the volume of waste is decreased. This can also lead to a reduction in workplace exposures to hazardous materials which can affect workers’ health and hence, their productivity. If less waste is produced, there will also be a diminished need for on-site storage space. Furthermore, by preventing pollution there will be a greater likelihood that a company will be in compliance with local, state, and federal compliance statutes. Finally, as community pillars, businesses shoulder an important responsibility for protecting the environment and natural resources for their own good as well as that of society.”

And did you know that in 1990, Congress passed the Pollution Prevention Act (P2Act), which states “The Environmental Protection Agency must establish a source reduction program which collects and disseminates information, provides financial assistance to States, and implements the other activities….”

Helping businesses, organizations, institutions, and government agencies throughout Illinois and beyond to prevent pollution and use resources more efficiently to benefit our shared environment while also ensuring that companies and communities are more competitive and resilient is essentially the mission of the ISTC Technical Assistance Program (TAP). Our team is here to help your organization identify and implement ways to make your operations more sustainable and to prevent pollution. TAP is funded not only by the State of Illinois but also a variety of grants and fee-for-service projects for a variety of clients.

Currently, TAP has funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide free sustainability assessments to Illinois manufacturers in the following sectors:

These assessments can help facilities reduce business costs, energy and water consumption, wastewater generation, emissions, and hazardous material usage, which can result in increased profitability, productivity, and competitiveness as well as recycling or diversion of by-products.

So if you are an Illinois manufacturer with facilities or supporting industries in those sectors, click on the link associated with your sector above to learn more about the assessment opportunity, and how TAP can help you identify P2 opportunities today. You can also access an overview flyer at https://uofi.box.com/s/fu0hsmj6skm52vl290nu7kiuohp758xa or contact Irene Zlevor via email or by phone at 217-300-8617. Additionally, a recorded webinar, presented to Sustain Rockford, describes the assessment process in detail.

There are opportunities for everyone to learn more about and practice P2–not just manufacturers. To learn more, explore the links below.

Free sustainability assessments for Illinois manufacturers: video available

Screenshot from TAP assessment opportunity webinar
This webinar recording is available on YouTube.

Members of the ISTC Technical Assistance Program team recently presented a webinar in association with Sustain Rockford to describe an opportunity for Illinois manufacturers, their direct suppliers, and supporting industries to obtain free sustainability assessments. The webinar recording is now available on ISTC’s YouTube channel.

TAP has received federal grant funding to provide these assessments for the following sectors:

Assessments can help facilities reduce business costs, energy and water consumption, wastewater generation, emissions, and hazardous material usage, which can result in increased profitability, productivity, and competitiveness as well as recycling or diversion of by-products.

The recorded presentation describes: how interested facilities can sign up for the opportunity; the process of preparing for an assessment; what to expect from the report on findings provided by TAP (including some example elements and common opportunities identified); and how TAP can assist with implementation of recommendations, if desired.

View a flyer describing the assessment opportunity. For additional information, please email Irene Zlevor or call 217-300-8617.

 

 

New project uses flue gas and wastewater to make algae

Aerial image of an algae cultivation system from Global Algae Innovations
Aerial image of an algae cultivation system from Global Algae Innovations

A three-year, $2.5 million Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) engineering-scale project will be one of the first and largest to combine carbon dioxide (CO2) from a coal-fired power plant with nutrients from wastewater treatment plants to cultivate algae for animal feeds. The project will demonstrate that producing algae for commodity animal products can be cost-effective and has added environmental benefits.

Algae has been used for decades in the niche markets of health and beauty. A more recent focus is its ability to use CO2 from coal-fired power plants to make biofuels and protein-rich food products.

Algae is fast-growing compared with traditional terrestrial feed crops, so it’s an attractive alternative for use in taking up CO2 from power plants because it requires less land, according to ISTC principal investigator Lance Schideman. Researchers will use the algae species Spirulina because it is already FDA approved for use as a food ingredient and has a high protein content, which commands higher prices.

The algae cultivation system will be integrated with the City Water, Light and Power plant in Springfield, Illinois. Schideman is collaborating with University of Illinois researchers Joshua McCann and Carl Parsons, who will conduct the animal feed studies. Global Algae Innovations will provide the algae biomass production system to be demonstrated at field scale for this project. The project is co-funded by the U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory.

In the past, ISTC scientists have researched wastewater algae systems that are now used at 10 full-scale operating wastewater plants. They’ve also been a leader in recycling the byproducts of hydrothermal biofuel production to enhance algal biomass productivity. Global Algae Innovations is a leading designer and equipment supplier in the algae industry that has developed and demonstrated cost-effective, large-scale algae production systems.

“We’re putting all the pieces together in a coordinated fashion and lowering the net costs of growing algae using industrial and municipal by-products as inputs to improve the economic environmental sustainability of algal carbon capture,” Schideman said.

This approach reduces pollution and replaces the costly CO2 and nutrient inputs used in most algae cultivation systems. In the current commercial technology, managers buy liquid CO2 and various commercial fertilizers for the nutrient supply.

The wastewater, which is full of organic nutrients that support algae growth, will come from a local wastewater treatment plant.

“Using wastewater is a cost savings in the production process and it helps to solve problems that wastewater treatment plants are experiencing in trying to minimize nutrient discharges in the environment,” Schideman said. “In Illinois, the treatment plants are under increasing scrutiny, and regulations that are now voluntary are expected to become more stringent and potentially mandatory within the next decade.”

Ultimately, the system will produce feed especially for cattle and chickens. The product will be dry, which helps reduce spoilage, and will have a high nutritional value compared with some other feeds.

The typical price range for most bulk animal feed ingredients is $150–350 per ton, and certain high-value products can have a market value of $1,000–$2,000 per ton. Algae has the potential to command prices near the top of the range since some species contain highly nutritional components such as antioxidants and poly-unsaturated fatty acids. However, algal animal feeds are not yet established in the market, and the value of these products must be demonstrated through research studies like this one.

Schideman notes that the size of the animal feeds market is quite large and is a good match with the amount of CO2 produced by power plants around the country. Thus, using CO2 from flue gas in algae production has the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gasses.


Media contact: Lance Schideman, 217-390-7070, schidema@illinois.edu
news@prairie.illinois.edu

US EPA releases report on environmental impacts of US food waste

EPA infographic on environmental impacts of US food waste
Image from US EPA Office of Research and Development.

On November 30, 2021, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a new report entitled “From Farm to Kitchen: The Environmental Impacts of U.S. Food Waste (Part 1).”

This report reveals the climate and environmental impacts of producing, processing, distributing, and retailing food that is ultimately wasted and projects the environmental benefits of meeting the US goal to prevent 50 percent of food waste by 2030. The report was prepared to inform domestic policymakers, researchers, and the public, and focuses primarily on five inputs to the US cradle-to-consumer food supply chain — agricultural land use, water use, application of pesticides and fertilizers, and energy use — plus one environmental impact — greenhouse gas emissions.

This report provides estimates of the environmental footprint of current levels of food loss and waste to assist stakeholders in clearly communicating the significance; decision-making among competing environmental priorities; and designing tailored reduction strategies that maximize environmental benefits. The report also identifies key knowledge gaps where new research could improve our understanding of US food loss and waste and help shape successful strategies to reduce its environmental impact.

The new report reveals that each year, the resources attributed to US food loss and waste are equivalent to:

  • 140 million acres agricultural land – an area the size of California and New York combined;
  • 5.9 trillion gallons blue water – equal to the annual water use of 50 million American homes;
  • 778 million pounds pesticides;
  • 14 billion pounds fertilizer – enough to grow all the plant-based foods produced each year in the United States for domestic consumption;
  • 664 billion kWh energy – enough to power more than 50 million US homes for a year; and
  • 170 million MTCO2e greenhouse gas emissions (excluding landfill emissions) – equal to the annual CO2 emissions of 42 coal-fired power plants

In short, significant resources go into growing, processing, packaging, storing, and distributing food. Thus, the most important action we can take to reduce the environmental impacts of uneaten food is to prevent that food from becoming waste in the first place.

A companion report, “The Environmental Impacts of U.S. Food Waste: Part 2,” will examine and compare the environmental impacts of a range of management pathways for food waste, such as landfilling, composting, and anaerobic digestion. EPA plans to complete and release this second report in Spring 2022. Together, these two reports will encompass the net environmental footprint of US food loss and waste.

Read the full report at https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-11/from-farm-to-kitchen-the-environmental-impacts-of-u.s.-food-waste_508-tagged.pdf.  (PDF document, 113 pages)

For questions, contact Shannon Kenny, Senior Advisor, Food Loss and Food Waste, US EPA Office of Research and Development.