80 Million Tons of Food Waste in the U.S.
There was 80 million U.S. tons of food waste in the United States in 2021. This Sankey chart shows where that waste came from and where it went.
Key takeaway
The biggest source of food waste in the U.S. stemmed from residential households in 2021, accounting for more than 50% of the total.
What food waste means for the environment
Whether it’s as a result of spoilage, poor planning, or unrealistic cosmetic standards for produce, food waste squanders valuable resources—such as water, energy, and labor—and intensifies global hunger and food insecurity, according to the United Nations.
Food waste is also a huge source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, contributing to climate change. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, an estimated 190 million U.S. tons of GHG emissions result from food waste annually.
Dataset
| Sources | Million tons | Share | Destinations | million tons | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Residential | 44 | 54 | Landfill | 33 | 41 | |
| Farm | 14 | 17 | Compost | 17 | 21 | |
| Food Service | 14 | 17 | Not Harvested | 13 | 16 | |
| Manufacturing | 7 | 9 | Sewer | 7 | 9 | |
| Retail | 3 | 4 | Land Applications | 5 | 6 | |
| TOTAL | 81 | 100 | Incineration | 4 | 5 | |
| Anearobic digestion (biogas) | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Dumping | 1 | 1 | ||||
| TOTAL | 80 | 100 | ||||
| Numbers may not add up due to rounding |
