ReFED recently released new estimates revealing that surplus food accounts for 14 percent of total methane emissions in the United States. Their report, created in collaboration with Quantis and the Global Methane Hub, uses new data to identify methane emission hotspots in the food system and offer targeted solutions.
“Understanding the main sources of methane from surplus food helps us identify those solutions that can do the most to reduce those sources,” Minnie Ringland, a Climate Analyst with ReFED and a co-author on the report, tells Food Tank.
ReFED finds that solutions to divert food scraps from landfills and sewers, such as organic waste bans, can do the most to reduce methane emissions from surplus food. These strategies “address the largest volume of material,” Ringland explains.
But date label standardization and other strategies that prevent food from being wasted in the first place offer the highest methane reduction potential.
ReFED groups their proposed solutions into three categories: Recycling infrastructure that diverts organic material from landfill and sewer, consumer facing education and intervention, and food business efficiency and utilization.
Accurate emissions measurements are key in creating change, ReFED emphasizes. According to the National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics released by the Biden-Harris Administration, “Data gaps and limitations make it difficult to understand the extent and consequences of food loss and waste, track progress toward the national and international goals, and measure success.”
“What gets measured, gets managed,” Ringland says, adding that business executives find solutions when they see the “sources and volume of food waste in their operations.”
Methane is 86 times more potent than CO2, according to the Global Methane Hub, but it also stays in the atmosphere for 12 years. Because of this short lifespan, Ringland calls methane reduction an “emergency brake” action against climate change. “If we can slash methane emissions today, the warming effect of those molecules in the atmosphere will be dramatically reduced within the next two decades,” she tells Food Tank.
ReFED’s new data adds methane-specific emissions information to the organization’s impact calculator. The calculator provides food businesses, policymakers, advocates, and funders with information on emissions. According to the report, this can allow them to “take decisive action and drive meaningful progress,” equipped with knowledge on the benefits they can gain from reducing emissions.
Consumers and eaters can make a difference too, by “only buying and preparing as much as you really need, storing ingredients to maximize their shelf-life, and finding ways to use every part of the ingredient,” Ringland says. “While many individual actions can often feel powerless in the face of the climate crisis, the food system in particular is highly driven by consumer purchasing power,” she tells Food Tank. “I personally think that collective awareness and behavior change can ultimately lead to systemic positive impact.”
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