Almost
a
third
of
the
food
produced
for
human
consumption
is
never
eaten
but
lost
or
wasted,
which
not
only
impacts
food
security
but
also
wastes
resources
such
as
land,
water,
and
energy.
Image
courtesy
of
Zhengxia
Dou
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New
research
has
found
that
recycling
food
waste
using
methods
such
as
composting,
anaerobic
digestion
and
“refeed”
can
lead
to
a
dramatic
reduction
in
greenhouse
gas
(GHG)
emissions
compared
with
disposing
of
it
in
landfills.
Pressures
like
population
growth,
land
degradation
and
urbanization
are
putting
strain
on
the
global
agrifood
system,
which
is
a
major
contributor
to
GHG
emissions.
“Everyone
is
involved
in
the
global
agrifood
system,
since
everyone
eats
food,”
said
co-author
of
the
study
Zhengxia
Dou,
an
agricultural
systems
professor
at
University
of
Pennsylvania
(Penn)’s
School
of
Veterinary
Medicine,
in
a
press
release
from
the
university.
“Everyone
is
a
stakeholder.”
[embedded content]
Nearly
a
third
of
food
produced
for
humans
is
lost
or
wasted
and
never
eaten,
Dou
said.
This
impacts
food
security
while
wasting
land,
water
and
energy
resources.
“When
finished
eating,
people
tend
to
just
toss
what’s
left:
out
of
sight,
out
of
mind,”
Dou
said.
“But
from
the
resource
and
environmental
perspective,
what
happens
after
actually
matters
a
lot.”
The
researchers
analyzed
data
from
91
field
studies
conducted
in
29
countries
in
order
to
provide
“a
benchmark
for
countries
developing
food
waste
management
strategies
for
a
circular
agrifood
system,”
the
authors
of
the
study
wrote.
To
determine
the
lifecycle-based
effect
of
food
waste
recycling
on
GHG
emissions,
the
researchers
focused
on
three
methods:
composting;
anaerobic
digestion
—
a
process
where
organic
material
gets
broken
down
to
produce
a
mixture
of
carbon
dioxide
and
methane
known
as
biogas,
which
can
then
be
used
as
a
source
of
renewable
energy;
and
refeed,
which
uses
suitable
food
waste
as
animal
feed.
The
results
provided
compelling
evidence
that
food
waste
recycling
using
those
methods
can
reduce
GHG
emission
in
comparison
with
landfill
disposal.
Food
waste
contains
organic
compounds
like
carbohydrates,
and
when
it
gets
buried
in
a
landfill,
these
decompose
anaerobically,
producing
the
powerful
GHG
methane.
Methane’s
warming
effect
on
the
planet
is
80
times
more
powerful
than
that
of
carbon
dioxide
over
20
years.
“Anything
you
can
do
with
food
waste
recycling
is
better
than
sending
it
to
a
landfill,”
Dou
said.
The
European
Union,
China
and
the
United
States
all
have
enormous
agrifood
systems
that
produce
incredible
amounts
of
food
waste
and
GHG
emissions
while
using
vast
stores
of
natural
resources,
according
to
the
study.
“They
are
what
I
would
call
methane
‘super
emitters’
from
food
waste
disposal,”
Dou
said.
The
researchers
found
that
completely
eliminating
food
disposal
in
landfills
in
these
countries
could
greatly
reduce
GHG
emissions.
Dou
noted
that
the
estimated
GHG
emissions
reduction
in
the
U.S.
would
be
equal
to
offsetting
methane
emissions
from
almost
nine
million
dairy
cows
—
over
90
percent
of
the
country’s
dairy
cow
population.
Dou
said
the
findings
on
the
benefits
of
refeed
were
most
important.
“I
am
a
big
advocate
for
converting
suitable
food
waste
streams
to
animal
feed
because
it
has
the
additional
benefit
of
reducing
conventional
feed
usage,
therefore
sparing
the
use
of
natural
resources
and
fertilizer,”
Dou
explained.
The
study
found
that
over
five
percent
of
the
total
cropland
in
China
currently
devoted
to
the
production
of
soybeans
and
maize
would
no
longer
be
necessary
if
suitable
food
waste
was
recycled
through
refeeding.
“This
spared
land
could
be
used
for
producing
human
food
to
enhance
food
security
or
for
taking
land
out
of
production
for
conservation
purposes,”
the
authors
wrote
in
the
study.
The
researchers
also
found
that
refeeding
could
replace
some
of
the
soybeans
and
maize
in
animal
feed,
which
Dou
said
would
be
especially
important
for
nations
like
China
and
some
EU
countries
that
rely
heavily
on
feed
imports.
“[F]ood
waste
composting,
anaerobic
digestion,
and
repurposing
to
animal
feed
are
all
practical
and
viable
options
that
are
field-proven,
low
cost,
and
highly
effective
in
mitigating
emissions
with
multiple
resource
conservation
benefits,”
the
authors
wrote.
Dou
said
reducing
food
waste
begins
at
home.
“We
are
part
of
the
equation.
So,
to
solve
the
problem,
we
need
to
be
aware
of
the
food
loss
and
waste
issue
and
try
to
cut
down
our
own
footprint
by
reducing
our
own
food
loss
and
waste,”
Dou
added.
The
study,
“Food
waste
used
as
a
resource
can
reduce
climate
and
resource
burdens
in
agrifood
systems,”
was
published
in
the
journal
Nature
Food.
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