The Unwelcome Harvest of Food Waste Reduction The United States faces a pressing reality: between 30% and 40% of the nation's food supply goes uneaten, with most organic waste ending up in landfills where it rots and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.
Efforts to reduce this staggering amount of waste are underway, but a new study published in the journal Nature Food reveals that the solution may come with an unintended consequence: the contamination of agricultural soils with microplastics.
Researchers at the University of Vermont found that implementing nationwide food recycling would have significant climate benefits, reducing greenhouse gas emissions from landfills by 89% to 99%.