The climate impacts of producing building materials, plastics, and food

The document outlines policy and technical strategies to mitigate the climate impacts of food waste, emphasizing the need for federal funding to support state-level innovation, the potential for national landfill bans, and the importance of addressing environmental justice for communities located near waste sites.

• Federal support for food waste reduction is most realistically achieved through providing funding to state and local governments that implement innovative programs, as these successful models tend to spread across the country quickly.
• While a national ban on food in landfills is considered a less realistic federal option due to the lead role of states and localities in waste management, such bans in Europe have successfully increased donation rates and encouraged businesses to prevent waste.
• Significant emissions reductions can be achieved through large-scale consumer efforts, such as reducing portion sizes and educating households, provided these efforts are sustained over the long term.
• Food waste creates environmental and climate justice issues because landfills and composting sites are often located in low-income neighborhoods, and the burdens of noxious food production sites are frequently borne by racial and ethnic minorities.
• Technological innovations, specifically the application of machine learning to food movement and ordering data, can increase system precision and improve the coordination of last-minute food donations.

APA

Environmental and Energy Study Institute (2021). The climate impacts of producing building materials, plastics, and food. https://www.eesi.org/briefings/view/121021waste

Chicago

Environmental and Energy Study Institute. The climate impacts of producing building materials, plastics, and food. 2021. https://www.eesi.org/briefings/view/121021waste.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |title=The climate impacts of producing building materials, plastics, and food |date=10 December 2021 |url=https://www.eesi.org/briefings/view/121021waste |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{environmentalandenergystudyinstitute2021climate, author = {{Environmental and Energy Study Institute}}, title = {{The climate impacts of producing building materials, plastics, and food}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2021}, month = dec, url = {https://www.eesi.org/briefings/view/121021waste}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }