USCC applauds National Strategy to Reduce Food Loss and Waste and Recycle Organics

Linda Norris-Waldt, Director of Advocacy
 
The USCC praises the Biden administration’s strategy to achieve a 50% reduction goal in food loss & waste as a comprehensive plan that includes key needs of composters. We are also pleased to see strategies for increased funding, closure of data gaps in research, and expanding the marketing of compost as the end-product.
 
The new strategy has had a long road that began in 2015 when the USCC, the Natural Resource Defense Council and other partners were part of the announcement of the new strategy. The strategy was open for comment in fall 2023, at the same time the EPA released a long awaited revision to the food waste hierarchy. This new “Food Waste Scale” prioritized actions that prevent and divert wasted food from disposal. Tiers of the food waste scale highlight different pathways for preventing or managing wasted food in order, from most preferred to least preferred. We believe composting is the superior and most economical option for inedible food scraps.

Composting is a vital component in this uphill battle, and we encourage all individuals to continue to support composting as the organics recycling method of choice. Compost as a product has the unmatched capacity to enable climate-resilient landscapes through actively improving soils and managing for environmental stressors such as flooding and drought. It also actively replenishes the soil with an amendment that sequesters carbon, increases water retention, increases soil health, and reduces soil erosion.

The main objectives of the Biden Administration’s strategy are to prevent food loss, prevent food waste, increase the recycling rate for all organic waste, and support policies that incentivize and encourage the prevention of food loss and waste and organics recycling. 

In enacting the National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics, the EPA is including a number of recommendations that the USCC and others suggested in 2015:

1. The USCC applauds the critical recognition of the many benefits that inedible food turned into compost can provide.
2. USCC called on the agencies involved to tap a lead agency on addressing data gaps related to the consequences of food loss and waste. This National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics seeks to close that knowledge gap especially in its relation to the new food waste scale and quantifying the benefits of composting/compost nationwide.
3. The acknowledgment of the federal role in providing and/or stimulating incentives for infrastructure funding (such as the proposed compost act).
4. Highlighting the importance of compost application as a tool for carbon sequestration and water conservation within the reality of climate change and severe droughts.

Furthermore, the strategy includes grants and funding related to compost, community composting, and organics recycling including, but not limited to, the following:

• $75 million in grants for supporting education and outreach efforts for food and organics recycling.
• $30 million over three years through Composting and Food Waste Reduction cooperative agreements.
• $275 million in grants through the Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grant Program* 52 for capacity building and training for underserved communities through the SWIFR program.
  • *Part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
• The Community Change Grant program receiving $2B in funding for environmental and climate justice activities to benefit disadvantaged communities.
• $5B in grants to states, local governments, tribes, and territories that could fund programs and incentives that reduce or divert food and/or yard waste through improved production practices, improved collection services, and increased reuse or recycling rates.

The need for infrastructure for all pathways for addressing wasted food is acknowledged in the new strategy, an important priority for composting in the U.S. We estimate 300-500 more food waste compost facilities are needed across the US to turn inedible food into the organic matter provided by compost to enhance the soil.

We applaud the requests for educational materials, the increase in market awareness for compost, and the funding for programs to increase our national capacity to transform food waste into compost and other beneficial products. We hope this is just the beginning of further efforts to expand the practice of composting and compost manufacturing in the U.S. and across the world.

Find the strategy and the USCC's comments at the link below.

https://www.compostingcouncil.org/page/national-foodwaste-strategy