Dive Brief:
- This week, the EPA is co-hosting the first national food recovery summit in Charleston, SC as a way to push its joint food waste reduction goal with the USDA.
- The summit joins the Southeast Recycling Development Council (SRDC), BioCycle, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, and the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, as well as other organizations, to brainstorm realistic ways to achieve 50% reduction by 2030.
- Mathy Stanislaus, EPA's Assistant Administrator for the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, started the conference on Monday with a keynote speech highlighting the environmental need for food waste reduction. Through the rest of the summit, industry leaders will discuss food recovery programs, composting, and regulations.
Dive Insight:
In addition to the Food Recovery Summit, the EPA will launch a microsite to engage faith communities around food issues, according to Christie St. Clair of the office of public affairs. Additionally, as November is the EPA's "Month of Food," the agency will host local events across the nation to raise awareness about food recovery.
Recently, the Food Waste Reduction Alliance released an updated guide of practices to help food manufacturers, retailers, and restaurants reduce food waste. In the guidelines, Waste Management encouraged companies to conduct waste characterization assessments in order to understand how to best dispose of their food — a product that accounts for approximately 80 billion pounds of waste in U.S. landfills each year.
