New EPA reports reveal climate cost of landfilling millions of tons of food

Washington, D.C. – In a just-released report, the U.S. EPA estimates that each year, the U.S. wastes 73 to 152 million metric tons of food, the vast majority of which ends up decaying in municipal solid waste landfills across the country, where it produces methane, a greenhouse gas that is far more effective at warming the planet than carbon dioxide. The U.S. EPA also estimates that 61 percent of methane generated by landfilled food waste is not captured by landfill gas collection systems and is released to the atmosphere, because emissions often occur before landfill gas collection systems are installed or expanded.