National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics
On this page:
Summary of the National Strategy
On June 12, 2024, the White House, along with EPA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released the "National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics." This strategy is part of a series of strategies on building a more circular economy for all.
The goal of the strategy is to prevent the loss and waste of food and increase recycling of food and other organic materials, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save households and businesses money, and build cleaner, healthier communities.
The four main objectives in the strategy are:
- Objective 1: Prevent food loss.
- Objective 2: Prevent food waste.
- Objective 3: Increase the recycling rate for all organic waste.
- Objective 4: Support policies that incentivize and encourage the prevention of food loss and waste and organics recycling.
Read the National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics (pdf) .
Coordinated Efforts
The actions detailed in this strategy will help the United States:
- Meet its National Food Loss and Waste Reduction Goal to halve food loss and waste by 2030.
- Contribute to achieving the National Recycling Goal to achieve a 50% recycling rate by 2030.
- Contribute to global achievement of the United Nations SDG Target 12.3.
Preventing food loss and waste and recycling food and other organic waste will also reduce landfill methane emissions, in support of the "U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan" (pdf)(1.465 MB).
Coordinated efforts to reduce food loss and waste will complement the Administration’s additional efforts to reduce methane emissions from landfills and agriculture (e.g., supporting anaerobic digestion). These efforts are part of the Administration’s whole-of government methane strategy including actions to cut emissions from landfills and food waste, agriculture, the oil and gas sector, abandoned mines, and other major sources, while improving measurement and monitoring. They help fulfill the Global Methane Pledge, which aims to reduce anthropogenic methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030 from 2020 levels.
History of the Strategy
In 2015, EPA and USDA jointly announced an ambitious national goal to reduce food loss and waste by 50% by 2030. In 2021, EPA directly aligned the food waste part of the goal with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Target 12.3: “by 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses.”
Recycling food and other organic waste (e.g., composting, anaerobic digestion, and rendering) will also drive progress toward EPA’s nationwide goal of a 50% recycling rate by 2030 and support the USDA Climate Smart Agriculture and Forestry Strategy. Achieving these complementary goals supports the U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan, which identified reducing food waste in landfills as an Administration action to reduce methane emissions. Lastly, food waste is responsible for 58% of landfill methane emissions released to the atmosphere, so diverting food waste from landfills is an effective strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In December 2023, EPA, USDA, and FDA released for public comment the "Draft Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics (pdf)(625 KB)." The comment period closed on February 3, 2024. During the public comment period, EPA, USDA, and FDA encouraged the public to consider the following key questions when reviewing and commenting on the draft strategy:
- What actions could help the U.S. meet its goals that are not reflected in the draft?
- What type of research should be funded?
- What actions would result in more equitable outcomes for underserved and/or food insecure communities?
EPA, USDA, and FDA reviewed all comments received. Please visit the docket for this draft in Regulations.gov (Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OLEM-2022-0415) to view submitted comments or for information related to the docket.
A wide range of external partners submitted more than 10,327 comments on the draft strategy. Commenters included industries and trade organizations, national and community-based non-profit organizations, government agencies (e.g., federal, state, local, and tribal), and private individuals.
A summary of all comments and EPA, USDA, and FDA responses to the comments can be found in the Appendix to the strategy.
