Food waste is a huge challenge with significant environmental, social, and economic impacts. Food that goes to waste (i.e., rots in a landfill) contributes to climate change by emitting methane, a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide. When food is wasted, so are the resources and labor used to grow, harvest, and transport that food.
The Use Food Well Washington Plan is Washington's roadmap to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030. The information below includes details on the planning process, where to read the plan, food waste and wasted food data, and how to get involved.
To address food waste and wasted food in Washington, the 2019 Washington Legislature unanimously passed the Food Waste Reduction Act, now codified as RCW 70A.205.715.
The law established statewide food waste reduction goals, relative to 2015 levels, including a focus on reducing the amount of wasted edible food. We are required to establish baseline data to annually track progress toward the statewide food waste reduction goals, along with drafting a food waste reduction plan to meet the 2030 goals.
We developed the 2015 baseline data, and further defined the edible food waste reduction goal, resulting in the following statewide food waste reduction goals:
Goal 1: Reduce food waste generated by 50 percent by 2030
Goal 2: Reduce at least half of edible food waste by 2030
We were also tasked to develop and implement a food waste reduction plan that focuses on three key strategies:
Prevention: Prevent and reduce the amount of food that's wasted
Rescue: Rescue edible food that would otherwise be wasted and ensure the food reaches those who need it
Recovery: Support productive uses of inedible food materials, including using it for animal feed, energy production through anaerobic digestion, and for off-site or on-site management systems including composting, vermicomposting, or other biological systems
The Use Food Well Washington Plan (UFWW Plan) prioritizes public-private partnerships over regulations, and was developed in collaboration with the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and Washington departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Health, and more than 100 subject matter experts.
The Use Food Well Washington Plan recommendations are a mix of federal and state policy changes, increased program funding, and investments in public education, food management systems, and recovery infrastructure. A total of 30 recommendations to reduce food waste were identified through this collaborative engagement process.
Through comprehensive implementation, the recommendations in this plan could prevent, rescue, and recover an estimated 1.3 million tons of food wasteeach year from landfill disposal. A significant portion of this reduction (at least 295,000 tons per year) is estimated to be edible food diverted to hunger relief or new markets. We foundadditional environmental, economic, and social benefits can be realized through comprehensive implementation, including a net financial benefit of over $1 billion annually.
When food is wasted, so are the resources and labor used to grow, harvest, process, transport, and manage the food from farm to table. Food waste is a huge challenge, with significant environmental, social, and economic impacts.
A greater understanding of these impacts catalyzed a global effort to reduce food waste. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations found one third (approximately 1.3 billion tons) of all food produced for human consumption is wasted1. In the U.S., 35 percent of the 229 million tons of food available went unsold or uneaten in 2019. That’s nearly $130 billion worth of meals unsold or uneaten each year, at a cost of almost 2 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product2.
Our calculations indicate Washington generates more than one million tons of food waste annually, with a large portion (about 35 percent) being edible food going into landfills. Washington is now in line with global, national, and regional goals to reduce food waste by 50 precent by 2030. The Use Food Well Washington Plan is a roadmap to meet the statewide food waste reduction goals.
2. ReFED [Rethink Food waste through Economics and Data] 2021. Roadmap to 2030.https://refed.com/
As codified in RCW 70A.205.715, Ecology is required to identify Washington’s baseline food waste data. We are also responsible for tracking annual metrics to measure progress toward the statewide food waste reduction goals.
Several sources of data were used to determine the amount of food waste generated in a given year, and whether that food waste was disposed or recovered in Washington.
The 2015 baseline data shows Washington generated approximately 1.2 million tons of food waste annually, with over 390,063 tons being edible food waste. The residential sector generated 37%, and the commercial sector generated 60% of food waste annually.
To achieve the 2030 food waste reduction goals, Washington will need to reduce food waste generated by at least 579,373 tons, with at least 195,032 tons being edible food waste.
Annual food waste data in Washington 2015-2018
2015 tons
2016 tons
2017 tons
2018 tons
Edible food disposed, all sectors*
390,063
415,807
430,468
479,428
Edible food disposed, residential sector
166,427
177,411
183,666
273,275
Edible food disposed, commercial sector
199,566
212,737
220,238
162,521
Edible food disposed, self-hauled sector
23,790
25,361
26,255
43,195
Inedible food disposed, all sectors
421,908
449,754
465,611
295,298
Inedible food disposed, residential sector
217,766
232,138
240,323
206,498
Inedible food disposed, commercial sector
189,913
202,448
209,585
58,486
Inedible food disposed, self-hauled sector
13,898
14,816
15,338
30,144
Recovered food waste, all sectors
346,775
353,268
306,292
287,296
Recovered food waste, residential sector
43,913
69,575
49,324
38,588
Recovered food waste, commercial sector
302,862
283,693
256,968
248,708
Food waste generated total, all sectors
1,158,746
1,218,829
1,202,371
1,062,022
Federal policy
Strengthen the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act
Support a national date labeling standard
Increase markets for lower-grade or “imperfect” produce
Improve federal tax incentives
State policy
Create the Washington Center for Sustainable Food Management
Continue support for the Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment
Connect the Use Food Well Washington Plan to the Food Policy Forum
Research strategies and develop partnerships to prevent food and food waste from entering landfills
Improve regulatory certainty for organics facility operations
Develop an emergency food distribution plan for Washington schools
Support 20-minute seated lunch minimum in Washington elementary schools
Support recess before lunch in Washington elementary schools
Increase access to food waste reduction education in Washington schools
Funding
Dedicate state grant funding for statewide food waste reduction
Increase funding for local health jurisdictions
Increase funding for local government food waste reduction work
Build more farm to school partnerships
Public education
Develop and maintain statewide food waste reduction campaigns
Develop and maintain statewide food waste contamination reduction campaign
Infrastructure development
Increase use of food waste and wasted food data tracking
Develop and maintain maps of food and wasted food flows
Improve food donation transportation
Increase access to cold chain management
Build more community food hubs
Support value-added food processing and manufacturing
Increase infrastructure investment in schools
Expand anerobic digestion at water resource reclemation facilities, compost facilities, and farms
Develop high-solids anaerobic digesters for mixed organic residuals
