EPA Seeks Comment on the Draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution 

On April 21, 2023, EPA released a “Draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution,” which is part of EPA’s Series on Building a Circular Economy for All, for public comment. The strategy provides voluntary actions that can be implemented in the United States aimed at eliminating the release of plastic waste from land-based sources into the environment by 2040. This strategy builds upon EPA’s National Recycling Strategy and focuses on actions to reduce, reuse, collect, and capture plastic waste.  

New and innovative approaches are necessary to reduce and recover plastic materials and improve economic, social, and environmental impacts. With input from organizations, EPA identified three key objectives for the strategy: 

Objective A: Reduce pollution during plastic production. 

Objective B: Improve post-use materials management.  

Objective C: Prevent trash and microplastics from entering waterways and remove escaped trash from the environment. 

EPA is interested in receiving feedback on the actions proposed in this strategy, including which of the proposed actions are the most important and would have the greatest positive impact at the local, regional, and national level. Check out the draft strategy on our website, as well as information on how to submit comments. 

Upcoming Webinar: Draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution 

Join us for a webinar about this draft strategy on May 11 from 1:00pm – 2:00 pm (Eastern Time). Register now! 

On April 4, 2023, EPA released the Anaerobic Digestion Facilities Processing Food Waste in the United States (2019) report, the fourth report under the Anaerobic Digestion Data Collection Project. This report provides 2019 data collected through surveys of stand-alone digesters, on-farm co-digestion systems, and water resource recovery facilities with co-digestion systems. Operators who responded to the survey processed a combined amount of over 17.5 million tons of food waste in 2019 and produced biogas in the amount equivalent to generating enough energy to power almost 58,333 homes for a year.  

EPA’s Anaerobic Digestion Data Collection Project aims to increase understanding of how food waste is handled at anaerobic digestion facilities nationwide. As interest grows in the anaerobic digestion and biogas industries and in decreasing and diverting food waste from landfills, the data in these reports will be useful to policy makers, investors, and other interested parties. You can also find previous reports featuring data from 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 on our website. 

On April 4, 2023, EPA published the 2019 Wasted Food Report. This report provides estimates for 2019 on the generation and management of wasted food in the U.S. for the food retail, food service, residential, and food manufacturing and processing sectors. It also includes estimates of how those sectors manage their wasted food. 

EPA estimates that in 2019, 66.2 million tons of wasted food was generated in the food retail, food service, and residential sectors. Of this, 40% was from households, 40% was from food service providers, and 20% was from food retail. Most of this waste (59.8%) was landfilled. An additional 40.1 million tons of wasted food was generated by the food manufacturing and processing sectors. The biggest proportion of this food manufacturing and processing waste (42.6%) was managed by anaerobic digestion. 

The report also contains information on progress toward the national goal to reduce food loss and waste by 50% by 2030. For food waste, this goal aims to cut in half the amount of food from the food retail, food service, and residential sectors that has been removed from the human food supply chain compared to a 2016 baseline of 328 pounds per person. In the three years between the baseline (2016) and the latest national data (2019), there was a slight increase of six percent (from 328 pounds to 349 pounds per person). 

For more information and to access this report, please visit our food data webpage.  

EPA recently announced $1.5 million in research grant funding to two universities to develop, apply, and test innovative and creative community approaches to reduce household food waste in the United States. 

April 24, 2023, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM (EST) 

This webinar is the third in a mini-series on Sustainable Land Use Practices, Reducing Food Waste & Supporting Vulnerable Communities, as part of the EJ Webinar Series for Houses of Worship and Communities. This webinar will identify ways Houses of Worship can help improve the access of healthy food for the vulnerable individuals, families, and communities they serve. The presentations will discuss how Houses of Worship can partner with farmers and farm gleaners to deliver healthy produce to people in need.  The presenters will provide examples, information on available resources, and best practices that can be used and immediately implemented.    

Register here. 

Sustainable Materials Management Grant Program in Mountain States 

EPA Region 8 is soliciting applications that address the national and regional priority of decreasing the environmental impact of materials with a focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  

This funding opportunity is designed to both decrease materials generated and increase reuse, recycling, and other strategies. Currently, there is inadequate infrastructure in the Mountains and Plains Region to support these goals. 

Applications must directly benefit at least one of the EPA Region 8 States (Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming) or one of the 28 tribal nations in the Region.  

Applications are due May 22, 2023. 

Learn about this grant program and how to apply.  

EPA New England’s Healthy Communities Grant Program is currently accepting applications for projects that will benefit one or more New England communities (in EPA Region 1).  

The Healthy Communities Grant Program was launched in 2003 and aims to achieve measurable environmental and public health results in communities across New England. The Healthy Communities Grant Program anticipates awarding approximately 15 cooperative agreements in 2023. 

To help answer questions from prospective applicants, the Healthy Communities Grant Program will host three webinars before the application package is due.  

The information sessions are on April 25, 27, and May 11. These information sessions are optional, but RSVPs are required.  A registration form can be found in the Request for Application. 

Applications are due May 26, 2023. 

Learn about this grant program and how to apply.  

April 25, 2023, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM (EST) 

Starting in 2005, select localities in South Korea began requiring households to separate food waste and pay a weight-based fee for discarded items. This webinar will discuss research on the gradual country-wide expansion of this program to evaluate how food waste taxes affect household food waste rates, food purchasing patterns, eating habits, and time use. Spoiler alert: a small tax (less than $.03/lb.) can reduce food waste by 20% (~116 pounds/year)! To understand how the South Korean experience might inform efforts in the United States, the speakers will discuss policy experiences at municipal and state levels. 

This webinar is co-hosted by the RECIPES Wasted Food Research Network and the Ohio State University Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics (AEDE).  

Register here.