About 20% of the waste in landfills is connected to food, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ latest food waste study. Further, most of that waste comes from food that is produced but not consumed.
It’s estimated that 900,000 tons of food waste ends up in landfills, based on an examination of state dumps in 2024. Of the 900,000 tons of food waste, only 270,000 tons comes from scraps like chicken bones, banana peels and egg shells.
It matches up with United States Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 30-40% of food in the country goes unsold or uneaten. In Wisconsin, there are about 3.05 million tons of surplus food generated, according to the study, which translates to a $10.4 billion value by 2023 numbers and 1,033 pounds of surplus food per capita.
The overall goal is to reduce the amount of food waste going into landfills by 50% by 2030, according to Amanda Erickson, solid waste planner with Madison-based environmental consulting firm HDR, which helped the DNR with the study. She said that about three-fourths of the food tossed away is food that could have been eaten if it got to the right place.
“Food waste is very much a universal issue and not one local to Wisconsin,” Erickson said.
The study reveals that the bulk of Wisconsin’s food waste in landfills, about 88%, comes from residential and food service sectors, with residential making up 47% of that amount, or about 209,000 tons. Retail makes up only 5% of the waste, and farms only constitute 2% from discarded produce.
Interestingly, only 14.6% of the food waste ends up in local landfills. About 44.4% of it is used for land application, while 9.6% of it is utilized as animal feed and 6.6% of it becomes compost.
“Land application plays a critical role in Wisconsin,” Erickson said. “The state is unique in that there is a high amount used for land application for food waste. That is a large portion of all the food waste that is generated in the state.”
Erickson noted that, with 1.2 million dairy cows, Wisconsin is unique in having a high amount of food waste go to feeding animals.
While the waste ends up in landfills or other places, the DNR study revealed that some food, about 72,300 tons, was donated to food outlets. There are over 50 food donation outlets in place in the state, including the Shawano Area Food Center, that address the estimated one in eight people who face hunger.
“If we can get food to those in need, that is the highest and best use of that material,” Erickson said. “We surveyed many food donation outlets and found out that many of them have limited capacity when it comes to expansion or managing more food to give to people. Many of them face logistical challenges that include storage space, funding, personnel. Sometimes it’s as simple as transportation logistics or a lack of understanding from businesses about what’s available in the community.”
There are 1,260 licensed solid waste transporters in Wisconsin, according to Erickson, but only 130 of them handle food waste. Most of them are in metropolitan areas like Green Bay, Madison and Milwaukee.
The study outlines potential actions that the DNR and municipalities could take to keep food out of landfills. Among them are landfill food waste bans, using landfill tipping fees as a financial motivation to divert the waste elsewhere, reducing barriers for businesses that want to provide food waste for animal feed, changes to date labeling to reduce overall food waste, and promoting and expanding food rescue and food donation.
“Researchers found that date labels, as far as like freshness, can really increase food waste, especially when residents are unaware of what the labels are intended for,” Erickson said. She noted the DNR should focus on “educating people about eating the food they buy and safely doing so based on accurate information.”
THE NEXT STEP
Near-term actions identify immediate opportunities without significant costs, time or regulatory requirements:
• Implement educational programs and communication campaigns to prevent food waste.
• Expand food rescue programs.
• Identify opportunities to expand existing landfill diversion practices, specifically land application in the manufacturing sector.
• Explore new or expanded composting capacity.
Medium-term actions identify opportunities that require more effort, funding or partner support:
• Consider regulations to support increased food donation.
• Provide grants and technical assistance to food waste generators to increase efficiencies and reduce food waste.
• Offer technical support for manufacturing and agricultural industries.
• Implement regional approaches to food waste processing facilities and hauling operations.
Long-term actions identify opportunities for significant diversion through regulations, infrastructure and private industry:
• Consider siting new or expanded processing facilities near areas of dense population or significant food service and retail sectors.
• Create financial support for diversion through higher landfill tip fees to support food waste processing facilities.
• Implement requirements for food waste diversion, including recycling or donating.
• Implement additional policies and programs to divert food waste from landfills.
