We believe that food is too important to waste.
We envision a Michigan where we value our food and don’t let it end up in landfills.
We work to stop food waste before it occurs and give overlooked food a place to go.
The Wasted Food Scale prioritizes actions that prevent and divert wasted food from disposal. Tiers of the scale highlight different pathways for preventing or managing wasted food, arranged in order from most preferred on the top left to least preferred on the top right. Within a given tier, pathways are ranked equally.
The most preferred pathways – prevent wasted food, donate and upcycle food – offer the most benefits to the environment and to a circular economy. These “top” pathways prioritize using food for its intended purpose: to nourish people. The least preferred pathways – landfilling, incineration, and sending food down the drain – have the largest environmental impacts and have limited potential for circularity. Learn more about the wasted food pathways on the scale.
EPA developed the Wasted Food Scale based on the findings of its 2023 report From Field to Bin: The Environmental Impacts of U.S. Food Waste Management Pathways. This report assesses 11 common pathways for managing wasted food in the U.S. based on their environmental impacts and potential contributions to a circular economy. The Wasted Food Scale is an update to the previous Food Recovery Hierarchy and reflects the latest science and changes in technologies and operational practices for wasted food management pathways.
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We’re Make Food Not Waste–a nonprofit organization working to keep food out of landfills and slow climate change by creating lasting solutions to food waste through education, food upcycling and advocacy.
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