Spoiler Alert Blog | Food Waste

   

3 Surprising Statistics About the Environmental Impact of Food Waste

Hannah Geise
Hannah Geise

the environmental impact of food waste banner with grass in background

There are obvious financial and social implications of wasting food, but oftentimes, the environmental impact of food waste is overlooked. We explore three statistics that highlight how damaging food waste can be to our planet.

1. Food waste consumes 21% of all freshwater, 19% of all fertilizer, 18% of cropland, and 21% of landfill volume. 

ReFed released a roadmap earlier this year, outlining 27 ways to reduce food waste at scale. Categorized by three types of solutions (food prevention, food recovery, and food recycling), the ReFed team calculated the financial impact (money saved and jobs created), the environmental impact (waste diverted, emissions reduced, water saved), and the social impact (meals recovered for the food insecure) that these solutions could generate once implemented.

ReFED infographic on the impact of food waste

2. If wasted food was a country, it would be the third largest producer of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the world, after the United States and China.

More details on the environmental footprint of food wastage can be found in this summary report from the FAO, but at a high level, food waste generates more greenhouse gasses than India, Russia, Japan, Brazil, and Germany.

chart showing food waste as the number three emissions generator

3. Food waste is responsible for generating 8% of global GHGs - that’s the carbon footprint of food we never even eat

The waste of food production throughout the supply chain rivals the environmental impact of transportation. In January, a coalition of 30 leaders launched Champions 12.3 at the World Economic Forum’s annual summit in Davos, Switzerland to create momentum around reducing food waste.

 

graph showing food loss and waste as top greenhouse gas emitter

Here is some additional reading on the environmental impact of food waste:

What’s the most surprising statistic about food waste’s impact on the environment that you’ve read? Comment below!