HOW WRI REDUCED ITS OFFICE FOOD WASTE BY MORE THAN 75 PERCENT

This case study describes how the World Resources Institute (WRI) applied the "Target, Measure, Act" mantra to reduce food waste in its Washington, DC office, achieving a reduction of over 75 percent within one year.

• WRI set a goal to reduce food waste in its Washington, DC office by 50 percent by 2030, aligning with SDG Target 12.3, with plans to extend this target to international offices.
• Initial waste composition analyses conducted in mid-2017 revealed that the Washington, DC office sent approximately 14 pounds of food to landfills daily, totaling more than 1.5 tons annually.
• WRI identified three primary sources of food waste: leftovers from catered events, unfinished staff lunches, and forgotten food in office refrigerators.
• To mitigate catering waste, WRI's events manager reduces order quantities by up to 25 percent for groups of 20 or more, while remaining food is offered to staff or donated to charity.
• Within one year, WRI reduced daily office food waste from 14 lbs to under 3 lbs, a reduction of more than 75 percent, by implementing composting, staff education, and improved refrigerator cleaning protocols.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). HOW WRI REDUCED ITS OFFICE FOOD WASTE BY MORE THAN 75 PERCENT. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/uploads/how-wri-reduced-office-food-waste.pdf

Chicago

World Resources Institute. HOW WRI REDUCED ITS OFFICE FOOD WASTE BY MORE THAN 75 PERCENT. n.d. https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/uploads/how-wri-reduced-office-food-waste.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=HOW WRI REDUCED ITS OFFICE FOOD WASTE BY MORE THAN 75 PERCENT |url=https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/uploads/how-wri-reduced-office-food-waste.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendhow, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{HOW WRI REDUCED ITS OFFICE FOOD WASTE BY MORE THAN 75 PERCENT}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://wriorg.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/uploads/how-wri-reduced-office-food-waste.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }