When yard trimmings, wood and paper/paperboard are added to food, these organic materials comprise 51.4 percent of municipal solid waste in landfills. In the U.S., food is the single most common material sent to landfills, comprising 24.1 percent of municipal solid waste. Only 5% of that wasted food was composted. In 2019, 66.2 million tons of wasted food were generated in the food retail, food service and residential sectors in the United States. EPA Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: 2018 Fact Sheet (pdf)(4.9 MB). Total Municipal Solid Waste Landfilled (by material), 2018.
