Waste

WASTE

It is estimated that forty percent of all the food produced in the U.S. is wasted. If that 40 percent were a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases behind the United States and China. If it were brought down to zero, as much as 11 percent of greenhouse gas emissions could be eliminated.

The best way to prevent waste may be to stop surpluses from occurring in the first place, but that begins when you scrape less off your plate or from your refrigerator. We could reduce the deforestation involved in providing acreage for animals to graze and crops to grow to feed those animals. We could reduce the energy needed to heat, cool, water and care for them, not to mention the labor, the transport and the packaging.

Food waste now accounts for more than one quarter of the total freshwater consumption and approximately 300 million barrels of oil per year.

In addition, as we bring food waste to rot in landfills, it is producing substantial quantities of methane – a gas with 25 fold more potent global warming potential than CO2

This is another area in which we can make an impact. We can plan more carefully before we buy. 

CURRENT NEWS

Communities take steps to overcome Long Island’s food scrap dilemma

By J.D. Allen 05/17/23
The Town of Riverhead partnered with nonprofits Long Island Organics Council and Green Inside and Out to launch the drop-off site in Calverton where organic waste will be converted into compost.
Read more

Urgent Long Island trash study headed up by veteran Stony Brook researcher

By J.D. Allen 05/12/23
The weight of the 14 million tons of waste that Long Island generates yearly might be said to rest on the shoulders of one Stony Brook University researcher.
Read more

With a deadline looming, Long Island towns evaluate how they collaborate on trash

By J.D. Allen 05/03/23
Most residents put their garbage out for collection at least once a week on Long Island. As long as it is picked up on time, their relationship with their trash ends there.
Read more

Meet the trash interceptor called 007

By Tiffany Ujiiye 03/24/23
Los Angeles County's Trash Interceptor 007 is experiencing its first winter storm season and it's on a mission to collect tons of floating trash from Ballona Creek near Playa del Rey.
Read more

There are 21,000 pieces of plastic in the ocean for each person on Earth

By Michael Birnbaum 03/08/23
A new study found far more plastic in global oceans than previously believed — and the amount is doubling every six years....
Read more

A Noxious Underground Landfill Fire Has Burned for Weeks in Alabama

By Angely Mercado 01/20/23
An underground landfill fire has been smoldering since November, creating toxic smoke that has affected nearby residents in a rural Alabama county. Officials have called in the help of the Environmental Protection Agency to find…
Read more

How Central Ohio Got People to Eat Their Leftovers

By Susan Shain 01/02/23
The average U.S. household wastes nearly a third of the food it buys. This community is nudging its residents to change their habits....
Read more

Exclusive Satellite Images Show Near Real-Time Methane Emissions

By Aaron Clark 11/06/22
A GHGSat satellite observed methane emissions near a coal mine Sunday afternoon in New Mexico that the emissions monitoring firm said was coming from a mine vent. The company estimated the release was spewing at…
Read more

Why the Feared Wave of Solar Panel Waste May Be Smaller and Arrive Later Than We Expected

By Dan Gearino 11/03/22
“Don’t panic,” said Heather Mirletz at the Colorado School of Mines, lead author of a recent paper that challenges several assumptions about what could happen when today’s generation of solar panels near retirement age.
Read more

Newsom signs nation’s most sweeping law to phase out single-use plastics and packaging waste

By Susanne Rust 06/30/22
The legislation heads off a November ballot measure that many lawmakers and the plastics industry hoped to avoid, and it puts California at the forefront of national efforts to eliminate polystyrene and other plastics that…
Read more

Trash-to-Gas Isn’t a Fairytale Climate Solution

By Lauren Leffer 06/22/22
It seems like magic: In millions of operations scattered around the globe (some big, some very small), waste is transformed into energy. Landfilled garbage, sewage, and farm effluent are processed into burnable biogas, which can…
Read more

What our garbage can tell us about the climate

By Sandra Goldmark 09/25/21
Garbage speaks volumes. By systematically and scientifically studying modern waste, we can discover how the climate crisis came to be, and where we need to direct our efforts in order to effectively address it.
Read more

KEY RESOURCES

Biodegradable vs. Compostable: What’s the Difference?

02/09/21
The terms "biodegradable" and "compostable" are everywhere, but they're often used interchangeably, incorrectly, or misleadingly – adding a layer of uncertainty for anyone trying to shop sustainably.

BioCycle the organics recycling authority

03/28/20
Published since 1960, BioCycle is the go-to resource on composting, organics recycling, anaerobic digestion and renewable energy.

Climate change becomes widely recognized corporate factor for waste and recycling

03/28/20
While many of the largest companies have been releasing sustainability reports for years, 2019 marked a potential turning point in the level of detail and acknowledgment for this looming issue.

Why America’s recycling isn’t working and what you can do about it

02/10/20
Poor recycling habits cost US municipalities $3.2 Billion annually. What are the common challenges local governments are facing?

National Overview: Facts and Figures on Materials, Wastes and Recycling

01/30/20
EPA began collecting and reporting data on the generation and disposition of waste in the United States more than 30 years ago. The Agency uses this information to measure the success of materials management programs…

Managing and Transforming Waste Streams – A Tool for Communities

01/30/20
In 2002, San Francisco set a goal of 75% diversion by 2010 and in 2003 Zero Waste by 2020. The city's comprehensive Environment Code, created in 2003, is based on the Precautionary Principle.

Basic Information about Landfill Gas

11/26/19
Landfill gas (LFG) is a natural byproduct of the decomposition of organic material in landfills. LFG is composed of roughly 50 percent methane (the primary component of natural gas), 50 percent carbon dioxide (CO2) and…

In Sweden, Trash Heats Homes, Powers Buses and Fuels Taxi Fleets

09/21/18
In a cavernous room filled with garbage, a giant mechanical claw reaches down and grabs five tons of trash. As a technician in a control room maneuvers the spiderlike crane, the claw drops its moldering…

Sustainable Piermont

11/26/19
Sustainable Piermont is a community initiative to protect our environment and prepare for the upcoming effects of Climate Change.  Piermont stands out locally and regionally on both fronts and is ready to do more.

C40 Cities

11/26/19
Cities are where the future happens first. The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group connects more than 90 of the world’s greatest cities, representing over 650 million people and one quarter of the global economy. Created…

US Climate Alliance

11/26/19
In response to the U.S. federal government’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, Governors Andrew Cuomo, Jay Inslee, and Jerry Brown launched the United States Climate Alliance – a bipartisan coalition…

Resilient Communities For America

11/26/19
Resilient Communities for America (RC4A) champions the leadership of hundreds of local elected officials who are committed to creating more prepared communities that can bounce back from extreme weather, energy, and economic challenges. A strong…
RMI

How Cities Can Improve Homes

10/22/19
While reducing energy use in residential buildings plays a key role in meeting these goals, historically, this has been a hard sector to tackle. Residential buildings are decentralized, which makes it difficult to implement programs…

Zero Net Energy Buildings with Zero Net Added Cost

10/22/19
Would you consider making your next home or building project a zero energy project? If the net added cost to you was also zero, would you be more interested? Most people would. It’s possible to…

American Cities Climate Challenge

07/01/19
The American Cities Climate Challenge is an unprecedented opportunity for 25 ambitious cities to significantly deepen and accelerate their efforts to tackle climate change and promote a sustainable future for their residents. As Climate Challenge winners,…

Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate Change

05/28/19
Co-chaired by Maros Sefcovic and Michael Bloomberg, The Global Covenant of Mayors serves cities and local governments by mobilizing and supporting ambitious, measurable, planned climate and energy action in their communities by working with city/regional…

100% Commitments in Cities, Counties, & States

04/05/19
Across the U.S. over 90 cities, more than ten counties and two states, have already adopted ambitious 100% clean energy goals. Six cities in the U.S.--Aspen, Burlington, Georgetown, Greensburg, Rock port, and Kodiak Island--have already…

Stop Waste

08/30/19
StopWaste helps Alameda County’s businesses, residents, and schools waste less, recycle properly, and use water, energy, and other resources efficiently.

Food Recovery Network

08/30/19
Food Recovery Network is the largest student movement fighting food waste and hunger in America.

Climate Collaborative – Packaging

08/30/19
On average, packaging accounts for about 5% of the energy used in the life cycle of a food product making it a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions and for some products, the packaging used…

Food Print – The Problem of Food Waste

08/30/19
Almost half of our food is wasted in the United States. How does this happen? What can we do to solve our enormous food waste problem?

EPA – Food Waste Programs Across the United States

08/30/19
Food loss and waste is a growing problem in our modern society. The amount of food Americans throw away each year is staggering. In 2014 alone, more than 38 million tons of food waste was…

WWF – Take the Food Waste Quiz

08/30/19
Test your knowledge and learn tips.

Food Tank – 59 Organizations Fighting Food Loss and Waste

06/24/19
It’s no secret that food loss and food waste are big problems. At least 1.3 billion tons of food is lost or wasted every year—in fields, during transport, in storage, at restaurants, and in markets…

MORE NEWS

One California City’s Creative Drought Fix

By Soumya Karlamangla   08/26/21  
Take a drive through this picture-perfect wine country town and you’ll start to spot them, unsubtle symbols of our state’s extreme drought.
Read more

The garbage industry has outperformed the market since 2015. Here’s why

By Nathaniel Lee   07/22/21  
America has long remained one of the most wasteful countries in the world, generating 239 million metric tons of garbage every year, about 1,600 to 1,700 pounds per person. While some view it as a threat to…
Read more

Battling America’s ‘dirty secret’

By Sarah Kaplan   06/25/21  
Climate change raises the risk from failing sewage systems. So Catherine Coleman Flowers is working for a new way to deal with waste.
Read more

Methane menace: Aerial survey spots ‘super-emitter’ landfills

By Nichola Groom   06/18/21  
The U.S. waste-management industry has become a darling of environmentally minded investors for its work in recycling trash and harvesting gases from landfills as an alternative fuel.
Read more

EPA Plans to Implement Federal Landfill Standards After Years of Trump Delays

By Amy Lupica   05/19/21  
On Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a plan to implement final standards to protect residents from the adverse impacts of municipal landfills. The Trump administration previously tried to delay these protections and waive restrictions on other…
Read more
EDF

EPA Unveils Plan to Reduce Dangerous Pollution from Landfills

05/17/21  
The Environmental Protection Agency today announced a plan to implement final standards that will protect millions of Americans from the toxic and climate-damaging pollution emitted by municipal landfills.
Read more

EPA Will Ramp Up Environmental Enforcement, Focus on EJ Communities

05/06/21  
EPA’s acting chief of enforcement sent a memo to staff last week (that The Hill obtained) calling for them to “[s]trengthen enforcement in overburdened communities by resolving environmental noncompliance through remedies with tangible benefits for…
Read more

Senate Restores Obama Era Methane Regulations Using Congressional Review Act

By Amy Lupica   04/29/21  
Using a rare procedure that allows Congress to reverse rules made late in a President’s term, the Senate has approved a bill restoring methane rules that were previously rolled back by President Trump. The old…
Read more

New York City Is Reviving Curbside Composting. Critics Say It’s A Step Back

By Danny Lewis   04/23/21  
To celebrate Earth Day this week, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a new lawsuit against several major oil and gas companies, while his new Department of Education Chancellor, Meisha Ross Porter, showed off the first…
Read more

Meet the Jewish Activist Digging Through the Trash for Climate Justice

By Orge Castellano   04/22/21  
A few years ago, Anna Sacks was an utterly different person. Her existence revolved around the monotonous slender buildings, high-rise cubicles, and exceedingly demanding domains of Manhattan’s corporate world. Soon, the young New Yorker’s workday…
Read more

The Lasso Robot Wants to Make Recycling at Home Easier

By John Biggs   01/12/21  
Recycling is important but it’s also a pain. Separating glass from plastic from paper isn’t a terrible task but what wouldn’t it be nicer if a robot did it instead? That’s why one inventor built…
Read more

7 Ways to Dispose of an Old Christmas Tree

By Katherine Martinko   12/28/20  
If you purchased a real Christmas tree this holiday season, then you'll have to figure out what to do with it eventually. Your town may have curbside pickup, but if not, you'll have to get…
Read more

Is a world without trash possible?

By Robert kunzig   02/18/20  
The vision of a “circular economy”—where we use resources sparingly and recycle endlessly—is inspiring businesses and environmentalists alike.
Read more

Why we dedicated our cover story to ‘the end of trash’

By Susan Goldberg   02/18/20  
We feel bad when we throw out things that shouldn’t have become trash (like uneaten, past-its-prime produce) or expend resources needlessly (like leaving lights on when we’re away). This guilty feeling is deeply ingrained; the…
Read more

Can the Super Bowl go zero waste?

By Sarah Gibbens   01/29/20  
This Sunday, Miami's Hard Rock Stadium will try to eliminate its need for a landfill.
Read more

Turning cow waste into clean power on a national scale

By Eileen Abbott   01/28/20  
A new partnership will convert waste from dairy cows into usable natural gas.
Read more

E.P.A. Is Letting Cities Dump More Raw Sewage Into Rivers for Years to Come

By Christopher Flavelle   01/24/20  
The Environmental Protection Agency has made it easier for cities to keep dumping raw sewage into rivers by letting them delay or otherwise change federally imposed fixes to their sewer systems, according to interviews with…
Read more

Industry’s 3 largest landfill operators among California’s biggest methane emitters: report

By E.A. Crunden   01/23/20  
NASA data shows Republic Services, Waste Connections and Waste Management among the state's "super-emitters."
Read more
vpr

Vermonters Want To Keep Food Waste Out Of Landfills. They Just Don’t Want To Pay For it

By John Dillon   01/22/20  
Many Vermonters support a pending ban on food waste from landfills. But a new University of Vermont study found few people want to pay for curbside pick-up of their food scraps.
Read more

Covanta will set ‘science-based’ emissions reduction target by 2022 as part of climate focus

By E.A. Crunden   12/23/19  
Covanta's new sustainability report argues incineration can play a key role in diverting waste from landfills, a major source of methane, and previews a growing focus on climate concerns.
Read more

Is Tinsel Canceled?

By Penelope Green   12/20/19  
As the world scrambles to combat deforestation, experts warn our efforts could have far fewer benefits than we think.
Read more

Brighton Kaoma: Empowering Communities for Climate Action Since Age 14

By Brighton Mukupa Kaoma   11/20/19  
As a teenage radio journalist in Zambia, Kaoma helped communities voice their environmental concerns. Now he’s a graduate student in Environmental Science and Policy. ...
Read more

Climate change could double greenhouse gas emissions from freshwater lakes

By University of Cambridge   11/18/19  
Every drop of fresh water contains thousands of different organic molecules that have previously gone unnoticed. By measuring the diversity of these molecules and how they interact with the environment around them, research has revealed…
Read more

How indigenous peoples can help the world meet its climate goals

By Julia Rosen   11/05/19  
The first time Mandy Gull visited Canada’s Broadback Forest, she was struck by the displays of delicate lichen. By the dense, ancient trees. By the moss-covered floor, which rose and fell like a rumpled green…
Read more

Cities, states and companies vow to meet U.S. climate goals without Trump. Can they?

By Julia Rosen   11/04/19  
Despite President Trump‘s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, the United States hasn’t completely abandoned the landmark international agreement.
Read more

Q&A With Sustainable Cities Expert Jitendra Bajpai

10/28/19  
The engineer and urban transport planner teaches a course on sustainable cities for the M.S. in Sustainability Management program...
Read more

Bali fights for its beautiful beaches by rethinking waste, plastic trash

By Amanda Tazkia Siddharta   10/15/19  
From single-use plastic bans to education, Bali is digging deep to preserve its pristine reputation and save its tourism industry....
Read more

What desert cities can teach us about water

By Rudri Patel   10/09/19  
A rise in temperatures coupled with population growth calls into question the long-term sustainability of desert cities...
Read more

The Gulf of Maine is warming, and its whales are disappearing

By Lulu Garcia-Navarro, Peter Breslow and Avery Ellfeldt   10/06/19  
Waters off the coast of Maine are warming faster than 99 percent of the world's oceans. That's forcing whales northward in pursuit of prey, threatening some of their already dwindling populations....
Read more

Ocean Cleanup Project Finally Collects Plastic From Great Pacific Garbage Patch

By Michel Martin   10/05/19  
That giant pile of plastic trash in the ocean just got a little smaller. Dutch inventor Boyan Slat's Ocean Cleanup project recently collected its first plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Read more

Department of Energy awards $73M for biofuel and waste projects

By Cody Ellis   10/03/19  
The Department of Energy recently selected 35 projects to receive $73 million worth of bioenergy research and development funding. This includes multiple projects relevant to the waste and recycling industry.
Read more

Closing the Loop on Urban Food Waste

10/03/19  
Riyana Razalee, a current student in the MS in Sustainability Management program, is building from the ground up a career in agriculture and food systems. ...
Read more

A Sustainability Indicator to Compare the Bike Friendliness of U.S. Cities

10/02/19  
An index created by a student would measure how well cities are encouraging bicycling through infrastructure, safety, and clean air...
Read more

How cities reshape the evolutionary path of urban wildlife

By Brendan I. Koerner   09/24/19  
If researchers can figure out how pigeons and rats evolve to thrive in hostile city habitats, it could help other beasts--including us--adapt to climate change....
Read more

Indigenous people are already working “green jobs”

By Nick Estes   09/24/19  
From Standing Rock to the Unist’ot’en Camp, land defense and water protection are necessary for the continuation of life on a planet teetering on collapse....
Read more

The Fight For Environmental Justice In America’s Segregated Cities

By Peter Dykstra   09/07/19  
Abolitionist climate justice is an evolving movement that aims to tackle the disparate effects of climate change across race and class...
Read more

I helped expose the lead crisis in Flint. Here’s what other cities should do.

By Mona Hanna-Attisha   08/28/19  
The fight against lead in water is a fight for our kids....
Read more

The toxic waste threat that climate change is making worse

By Zack Colman   08/26/19  
More than 100 ponds and landfills containing coal ash lie in areas FEMA has designated as high-risk flood zones, according to a POLITICO analysis.
Read more

The Hidden Costs of Food Waste

08/23/19  
Nearly 40 percent of all food goes uneaten in the U.S. Environmental policy alumni examine the impacts of food waste and how we can make a difference. ...
Read more

Can smartphone apps help solve the world’s food waste problem?

By Tiffany R. Jansen   06/27/19  
Some 40 percent of America’s food goes uneaten, costing the nation some US$218 billion annually. Food waste is a major contributor to deforestation and water waste, and comes a close second to road transportation in…
Read more

De Blasio’s Zero Waste Plan Languishes With Composting Expansion On Hold, Critics Say

By Gwynne Hogan   06/25/19  
At an Earth Day press conference four years ago, Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged New York City would send zero waste to landfills by 2030, in part by scaling up an aggressive composting program to…
Read more

From Toilet to Tap: What Cities Need to Overcome to Make That Happen

By Sasha Harris-Lovett and David Sedlak   05/17/19  
In recent years, the idea of creating a circular economy—in which all of the resources coming into our cities are recycled after they are used—has taken hold. We now routinely recycle paper, glass and food…
Read more

Fighting Food Waste by Finding Ways to Use the Useless

05/07/19  
Even though some food is never eaten, the carbon emissions to grow it still end up in the atmosphere. Reducing waste is crucial to fighting climate change. ...
Read more

50 Million Gallons of Toxic Water Flows Into Lakes and Streams Every Day in the US

By Elias Marat   02/22/19  
A new Associated Press report has blown the lid off the mining industry’s toxic effect on drinking water sources across the United States.
Read more

Waste Management CEO talks climate change, ocean plastic and ‘zero waste’

By Cole Rosengren   02/06/19  
As the Waste Management Sustainability Forum in Phoenix, Arizona grows in size each year, so do its ambitions. Last year, CEO Jim Fish invoked space exploration with plans for a new "moonshot" goal to reduce the…
Read more

If You Throw a Compostable Cup in the Trash, Does It Still Break Down?

By Ashley P. Taylor   09/17/18  
Compostable products are all the rage these days. But what happens to these items — including compostable straws and silverware — when they're thrown into a landfill instead of a compost heap?
Read more

Bio-based plastics can reduce waste, but only if we invest in both making and getting rid of them

By Danny Ducat   08/16/18  
Bio-based plastics are a promising option for reducing plastic waste, but scaling them up will require substantial investments, both in making them and in special facilities for disposing of them.
Read more

Climate change is making Lake Tahoe warmer, adding stress to the ecosystem

By Daniel Rothberg   07/30/18  
In an annual report released this week, U.C. Davis researchers found that climate change is adding new pressure to the Lake Tahoe ecosystem. The “State of the Lake Report” found that surface temperatures in July…
Read more