Food spoilage is usually measured within broader food-loss and food-waste systems rather than as a standalone cause. The figures below therefore track food removed from the human food supply, including spoiled food, while distinguishing post-harvest losses from consumer-level waste. In 2022, an estimated 1.05 billion tonnes of food waste, including inedible parts, were generated worldwide at the household, food-service and retail levels—about 19% of food available to consumers. UNEP
Contents
- Global scale and definitions
- Where U.S. wasted food is generated
- Institutional and community sources
- How U.S. wasted food is managed
- Manufacturing and processing outcomes
- Trends, targets, costs and environmental outcomes
Global scale and definitions
UNEP’s 2022 estimate covers food waste at retail, food service and household levels, and includes inedible parts. It is not identical to food loss measured earlier in the supply chain. The global total was 132 kilograms per person per year, with households responsible for 631 million tonnes, or 60%; food service accounted for 290 million tonnes, or 28%; and retail accounted for 131 million tonnes, or 12%. UNEP
Household waste alone averaged 79 kilograms per person per year globally in 2022. This is an observed estimate, not a direct measure of every instance of spoilage in every country. UNEP Efforts
FAO places a different boundary around food loss: its latest estimate cited on the policy page is 13.2% of food lost from post-harvest through the supply chain before retail. That percentage should not be added mechanically to the UNEP consumer-level total because the populations, stages and definitions differ. FAO Policy Series
Food loss and waste together were estimated to generate 8% to 10% of annual global greenhouse-gas emissions, while the global economic toll was estimated at roughly US$1 trillion annually. These are broad estimates rather than a single audited global cost account. UNEP
Where U.S. wasted food is generated
The EPA estimated that the United States generated 66,216,242 tons of wasted food in 2019 across food retail, food service and residential sectors. Manufacturing and processing was reported separately at an estimated 40,050,707 tons. These are model estimates, not direct national weigh-outs. 2019 Wasted Food Report
| U.S. source, 2019 | Estimated wasted food | Share of retail, food-service and residential total |
|---|---|---|
| Residential | 26,502,346 tons | 40.0% |
| Food service | 26,741,937 tons | 40.4% |
| Food retail | 12,971,959 tons | 19.6% |
| Restaurants | 18,337,784 tons | 27.7% |
| Supermarkets and supercenters | 8,998,443 tons | 13.6% |
| Food wholesalers | 3,973,516 tons | 6.0% |
Restaurants are a subset of food service, while supermarkets, supercenters and wholesalers are categories within retail. The table should therefore be read as a set of overlapping views, not as rows that can be summed together. EPA notes that e-commerce food waste was added to the wholesaler category and large supercenters were added to the 2019 estimate. 2019 Wasted Food Report
Residential waste was estimated at 26,502,346 tons, or 40.0% of the three-sector total. Food service was slightly higher at 26,741,937 tons, or 40.4%, while retail contributed 12,971,959 tons, or 19.6%. The 2019 estimate therefore places households and food service at similar scales, with retail lower under EPA’s model boundary. 2019 Wasted Food Report
Institutional and community sources
EPA’s 2019 model also estimated wasted food from institutions and community settings. K-12 schools generated 1,248,532 tons, or 1.9% of the retail, food-service and residential total. Colleges and universities generated 624,371 tons, or 0.94%; hospitals generated 298,576 tons, or 0.45%; nursing homes generated 415,591 tons, or 0.63%; and correctional facilities generated 425,232 tons, or 0.64%. 2019 Wasted Food Report
Smaller modeled categories included military installations at 62,627 tons, or 0.09%, and sports venues at 39,702 tons, or 0.06%. Office buildings generated 4,093,447 tons, or 6.2%, and hotels generated 1,196,076 tons, or 1.8%. These percentages use the same EPA sector total and are not participation rates. 2019 Wasted Food Report
Food banks were estimated to generate 473,027 tons of food waste from donated excess that could not be distributed. EPA excluded this amount from total-generation figures to avoid double counting, so it should not be added to the 66,216,242-ton retail, food-service and residential estimate. 2019 Wasted Food Report
How U.S. wasted food is managed
EPA’s 2019 management profile covers nine reported destination categories for wasted food from retail, food service and residential sectors. Separately, EPA identified six management pathways of interest for a headline comparison; the 57,228,191 tons and 349 pounds-per-capita figures refer to those six pathways, not to all nine rows below.
| Destination | Tons | Share of managed waste |
|---|---|---|
| Landfills | 39,621,902 | 59.84% |
| Controlled combustion | 9,646,263 | 14.57% |
| Sewer and wastewater treatment | 3,975,352 | 6.00% |
| Food donation | 5,135,293 | 7.76% |
| Composting | 3,304,764 | 4.99% |
| Bio-based materials and biochemical processing | 2,335,988 | 3.53% |
| Animal feed | 1,516,771 | 2.29% |
| Anaerobic digestion | 538,539 | 0.81% |
| Land application | 141,371 | 0.21% |
Landfills were the largest reported destination, receiving 39,621,902 tons, or 59.84%. Controlled combustion received 9,646,263 tons, or 14.57%. EPA attributed the sewer and wastewater estimate to households because data for other sectors were unavailable. Food donation excludes 473,027 tons of donated food-bank excess that was not distributable. 2019 Wasted Food Report
The six pathways of interest received 57,228,191 tons, equivalent to 349 pounds per capita. EPA’s comparison excludes litter, discards and refuse because data for that pathway were unavailable. Anaerobic-digestion comparisons with 2018 are also limited because EPA’s 2019 survey changed comparability. 2019 Wasted Food Report
Manufacturing and processing outcomes
The separate U.S. manufacturing and processing estimate was 40,050,707 tons in 2019. Its destination profile differed sharply from the retail, food-service and residential profile: anaerobic digestion received 17,055,531 tons, or 42.58%; animal feed received 13,709,339 tons, or 34.23%; and land application received 5,183,851 tons, or 12.94%. 2019 Wasted Food Report
Manufacturing and processing donated 2,205,990 tons, or 5.51%, while 917,630 tons, or 2.29%, went to landfill. Composting handled 583,305 tons, or 1.46%; controlled combustion handled 330,326 tons, or 0.82%; and bio-based materials or biochemical processing handled 64,737 tons, or 0.16%. EPA’s profile reported 0 tons sent to sewer or wastewater treatment. 2019 Wasted Food Report
These shares describe EPA’s modeled allocation for this sector, not a universal outcome for every processor. Donated excess routed to other pathways is excluded from the manufacturing donation figure, and the report describes the profile as an estimate. 2019 Wasted Food Report
Trends, targets, costs and environmental outcomes
EPA estimated that U.S. per-capita food waste sent through its six pathways of interest rose from 328 pounds in 2016 to 335 pounds in 2018 and 349 pounds in 2019. EPA described the 2019 figure as 6% above the 2016 baseline, while also warning that methodology changed. 2019 Wasted Food Report
The U.S. 2030 target is 164 pounds per person—half of the 2016 baseline of 328 pounds. This is a policy benchmark, not a forecast. Total wasted-food generation across retail, food service and residential sectors increased 4.89%, from 63,132,123 tons in 2018 to 66,216,242 tons in 2019. EPA cautions that methodology changes affect comparability. 2019 Wasted Food Report
Within the same model comparison, residential wasted-food generation increased 6.20%, from 24,954,863 tons to 26,502,346 tons, and restaurant generation increased 7.30%, from 17,090,835 tons to 18,337,784 tons. EPA said the amount managed by landfill and controlled combustion was 15% higher in 2019 than in 2018, attributing much of the difference to methodology rather than confirmed behavior change. 2019 Wasted Food Report
About 96% of U.S. households’ wasted food ended in landfills, combustion facilities or sewer systems in 2019; the remainder was composted. EPA also estimates that the average U.S. family of four spends almost US$3,000 per year on food that is not eaten. The family figure is an average household estimate, not a current expenditure-survey series. Preventing Wasted Food At Home
Global comparisons also have important data limits. UNEP reports only a 7-kilogram-per-person-per-year difference in observed average household food waste between high-, upper-middle- and lower-middle-income countries, but notes uneven country data coverage. In its 2024 assessment, only Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union had food-waste estimates suitable for tracking progress toward 2030. That count measures data readiness, not waste volume. UNEP
The global 2019-to-2022 difference is not a clean time trend because UNEP expanded data coverage and changed comparability. Likewise, EPA’s U.S. results are modeled 2019 estimates, with specific limitations around food-bank double counting, e-commerce, supercenters, anaerobic digestion and unavailable pathway data. These qualifications matter when interpreting food spoilage statistics as evidence of change.