Food is a resource many of us try not to throw out. But a lot of it ends up in the trash anyway, from leftovers to fruits and veggies we didn’t use before they spoiled.
The state Department of Natural Resources wants to reduce the amount of food Wisconsinites waste. The state is working on a 50% reduction from 2020 to 2030.
The recently-released Wisconsin Food Waste Evaluation has recommendations for how achieve that goal. It was funded through a 2023 Environmental Protection Agency grant.
Roughly 4.5 million tons of waste was put into Wisconsin’s landfills in 2024, according to DNR. It estimates 20% of it was “food waste.” That includes food that was previously edible, as well as things like scraps, bones and shells.
“Of the food waste that's actually going to our landfills, actually 70% of that food was previously edible,” says Erik Flesch, E-Cycle Wisconsin Coordinator for the DNR.
Flesch says the fact that so much of the food that was thrown out was edible is actually encouraging.
“That actually indicates that this problem is a lot more preventable than we may have thought,” he says.
The Wisconsin Food Waste Evaluation identifies short, medium, and long-term opportunities for how the state can reduce the amount of food ending up in the trash.
They include expanding food rescue programs, implementing educational campaigns, and instituting requirements for food waste diversion.
Flesch says there are some systems in place to keep food waste out of landfills, but they are underutilized.
Currently 44% of food waste in the state is applied directly to the land to restore important nutrients.
Roughly another 17% is taken to composting centers and anaerobic digestion facilities, where it is broken down for soil amendments and methane for energy. The food waste evaluation recommends expanding that infrastructure.
Wisconsin is home to 286 facilities licensed for composting, but only 30 are approved to accept food waste.
There are 122 anaerobic digestion facilities, but only 37 accept food waste.
The DNR will meet with community leaders and government officials to explore incentives and review options to expand the state’s food waste processing infrastructure.
“There are some barriers and those stem from things like awareness sometimes, particularly at the household level, or economic factors, equipment needs, or access to specialized infrastructure," says Flesch. "In some cases, there's a shortfall of technical knowledge, or even some regulatory challenges."
In addition to expanding the state’s food waste processing options, the evaluation recommends actions like donating food or using food waste for animal feed.
“So now that this big study has been published, the Wisconsin DNR looks forward to having important conversations with stakeholders on what the next steps will be," says Flesch. "But there's a lot of things that folks can start doing now to start reducing food waste at home and where they work.”
