In the U.S. alone, food waste is responsible for the equivalent emissions from 42 coal power plants. Globally it accounts for 10% of greenhouse gases, more than heavy industries like cement and steel.
Why? Wasted food means wasted energy. Throwing a piece of food in the trash is like tossing out the fertilizer and fuel used to make it, too. And we waste a lot of it. Nearly one third of all food grown gets trashed. On top of that, when food decomposes in landfills through anaerobic digestion, it releases methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
So how do we clean up food waste?
In this episode, Shayle talks to Matt Rogers, founder and CEO of Mill. Matt founded Nest, the smart thermostat company, and has now turned his attention to food.
Disclosure: Shayle’s venture capital firm Energy Impact Partners is an investor in Mill.
Matt and Shayle cover topics like:
- Where food waste occurs along the value chain (hint: The biggest source of waste is us, when we toss food we’ve already purchased.)
- The causes of emissions, from energy inputs to anaerobic digestion in landfills
- The current solutions to food waste, such as composting, green bin programs, supply chain management software and shelf-life extension.
- The challenges with landfills, including trucking waste and landfill capacity.
- Mill’s new consumer-focused food waste technology, which includes shipping dehydrated food scraps in the mail.
- How much consumers care about food waste and carbon emissions.
Recommended Resources:
- ReFED: Drawdown Update Affirms Reducing Food Waste as a Leading Solution to Climate Change
- ReFED: Roadmap to 2030: Reducing US Food Waste by 50%
- Canary: Eating the Earth | Decarbonizing our food systems
- Climavores: Today's food crisis is a postcard from our warming future
- EPA: From Farm to Kitchen: The Environmental Impacts of U.S. Food Waste
Click here for a full transcript
Catalyst is a co-production of Post Script Media and Canary Media.
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