Food Waste Diversion Can Deliver Billions in Economic Benefits

A new analysis from the environmental group NRDC looks at what happens when states keep food scraps out of the trash instead of sending them to landfills, where food waste makes up nearly a quarter of what's buried and breaks down into methane, a powerful climate pollutant. The group studied what full-scale food waste diversion policies could do in two states. In Illinois, such a policy could generate $3.8 billion in economic activity and create 14,000 jobs. In Colorado, the estimate is $2.4 billion and more than 9,000 jobs. Most of the new jobs would come from waste hauling, composting, and food rescue operations.

Eleven states already have laws that bar food waste from landfills and incinerators, and the research found these policies work best when they include households, not just businesses and restaurants — homes generate more than a third of the food waste in the country. Programs that fold food scrap pickup into existing trash and recycling routes, rather than running a separate costly system, tend to keep costs down. Some communities have managed to offset the expense of adding weekly food scrap collection by cutting back regular trash pickup frequency or improving collection routes.

None of this points to a specific program available to you right now — whether your area offers food scrap pickup, composting drop-off, or a curbside program depends on where you live. If your city or state has rolled out something like this, it would show up as a new bin or collection option alongside your regular trash and recycling.