Waste_Content Page_Commercial Food Waste

Reducing Food Waste - Business and Communities

Reducing food waste can offer lower disposal costs, improved efficiency and enhanced brand image. For farmers, businesses and institutions, the financial incentive to reduce food waste may also include tax incentives for donating wholesome, unsold food. 

Resources for the different sectors that generate wasted food are listed below.
 

Foodservice

Foodservice includes businesses, institutions and companies responsible for any meal prepared outside the home. This includes restaurants, catering, cafeterias and the hospitality sector. ReFED, a U.S.-based nonprofit working to stop wasted food, estimates that at the foodservice level, about 70% of waste is due to plate waste from customers who don't eat all they are served or have taken from a buffet.

EPA Publications

Additional Resources

Retail & Grocery Stores

Customer demand for a variety and quality of food and date label concerns can account for food waste at the retail stage. 

Resources for retail-specific prevention solutions and tools are below. Grocers and wholesale associations may also have resources.

EPA Publications

Additional Resources

Manufacturers

Byproducts in food manufacturing, such as peels, stems, bones and other parts not used in the main product, become production line waste.

EPA Publications

Additional Resources

Farms

Farmers never want to see the food they grow wasted, but sometimes crops are left unharvested. According to ReFED, in 2023, farming generated 17.6M tons of surplus food, more than 80% of which was left behind in the field and never harvested. Only 1.6% was donated for hunger relief. The USDA provides insight into ways to help reduce this waste, feed people and put money into farmers' pockets.

USDA Resources

Additional Resources

K-12 Schools

K-12 schools have a special role in reducing, recovering and recycling food waste on their premises and in educating the next generation about the importance of food conservation and recovering wholesome excess food for donation to those less fortunate.

The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction published a “Sharing and No Thank You Table Toolkit" [DOCX exit DNR] for Wisconsin schools that encourage the consumption of nutritious food and reduce food waste. Green & Healthy Schools Wisconsin also has food waste and composting resources for Wisconsin schools.

EPA and USDA Publications

Additional Resources

Communities

Communities or local governments with sustainability goals, solid waste reduction goals or Climate Action Plans may focus on reducing food waste as a way to benefit their environmental bottom line. The resources listed below are to help local governments and nongovernmental organizations who want to start a food waste reduction campaign and provide resources on how to prevent wasted food in their community.

EPA and FDA Resources

Additional Resources

For more information on food scrap composting, visit the Composting Rules and Regulations in Wisconsin page and open the "Food scraps" tab.

Food Donation and Rescue

Information on where to donate food in your area can be found online. The following sites contain tools you can use to search for food banks, pantries, soup kitchens and shelters that may be interested in accepting wholesome, excess food:

  • Wisconsin Recycling Markets Directory contains organizations accepting donations, search “Organic/Food Materials” category and “Food Rescue” subcategory
  • Excess Food Opportunities Map contains nationwide data about food banks
  • Feeding America is the nation's largest domestic hunger relief organization. Its network of food banks, pantries and meal programs serves virtually every community in the United States. Find a food bank or pantry near you.
  • Food Pantry Locator is a source of food pantry locations and hours.
  • Food Recovery Network mobilizes college volunteers to donate surplus food to surrounding local communities.
  • Food Rescue Locator has a live interactive map of food rescue organizations.

Food Donation Tax Incentives And Laws

The federal government provides tax deductions to incentivize businesses to donate food. In addition, donating food and grocery products can help companies reduce disposal costs.

Both state and federal laws protect food donors from liability. The federal 1996 Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act and the Food Donation Improvement Act of 2021 support donating food and groceries for distribution to those in need. The law protects donors from civil and criminal liability. If they donate a fit and wholesome product in good faith, they won't be held responsible if it later harms someone.

Wisconsin law, s. 895.51, Wis. Stats., also protects any person engaged in the processing, distribution or sale of food products, for-profit or not-for-profit, who donates or sells qualified food to a charitable organization or food distribution service. The person would be immune from civil liability for the death of or injury to any individual caused by the qualified food donated or sold by the person.

Upcycle

Upcycled foods are made from ingredients that would otherwise have ended up in a food waste destination. Upcycling is common sense because it makes the most of the food. Examples of upcycling include using misshapen or bruised fruit to produce jams, jellies or kombucha.

Turning Wasted Food into Animal Feed

Food scraps and food processing waste may have the potential to be turned into animal feed. The food nourishes animals and diverts it away from landfills. Examples of this happening in Wisconsin include the use of brewery and distillery spent grain for livestock feed. However, not all food waste is suitable for conversion to animal feed.

Using wasted food as feed requires a Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) commercial feed license.

Compost

When we compost our wasted food and scraps, and use the compost produced, we return the valuable nutrients and carbon contained in those materials back to the soil. Composting also extends landfill life by diverting organic materials and protects the climate by reducing landfill methane emissions. Composting is nature's way of recycling and is one of the most powerful actions we can take to reduce wasted food in landfills and build healthy soil.

For information on the composting wasted food and scraps, review the following:

Anaerobic Digestion with Energy Recovery and Beneficial Use of Digestate

Anaerobic digestion is a process where microorganisms break down organic materials, such as wasted food, in the absence of oxygen. The anaerobic digester may be a stand-alone digester that primarily processes wasted food, an on-farm digester that co-digests food waste with manures or a digester at a water resource recovery facility that co-digests food waste with wastewater solids.

Anaerobic digestion generates biogas, which can be a source of renewable energy. It also produces digestate or biosolids, nutrient-rich products that can be used beneficially, for example as fertilizer, soil amendment or animal bedding. When the digester is located at a water resource recovery facility, the final product is called biosolids. Digestate and biosolids can be treated in a variety of ways prior to being applied to land, for example, by composting. The use of digestate and biosolids on soils can offset the need for synthetic fertilizers and enhance soil health.

Facilities interested in anaerobic digestion of food waste should consult a DNR Solid Waste staff member for help determining the proper permitting authority.

Apply to the Land

Wasted food and by-products from the food manufacturing and processing sector may be eligible for field application. The benefits and impacts of land application of food processing waste streams can vary widely based on the composition of the wasted food.

Prior to land spreading, interested facilities can find general information on permit eligibility, permits and requirements at Wisconsin DNR Wastewater General Permits - see “Landspreading.”