Food waste remains one of the most significant environmental challenges facing the U.S. food system. Approximately 40% of food produced in the United States goes uneaten, resulting in an estimated 36 million tons of waste each year1. Much of that waste ultimately ends up in landfills, where it generates methane emissions and contributes to climate change.
At the same time, millions of Americans continue to face food insecurity. The coexistence of these challenges highlights an important reality: reducing food waste is not solely an environmental objective. It is also an opportunity to improve food system efficiency, conserve valuable resources, and support broader food security goals.
As policymakers evaluate strategies to reduce emissions, strengthen supply chains, and improve access to food, one of the most effective solutions is often overlooked—preventing food waste in the first place.
The Environmental Cost of Wasted Food
Conversations about sustainability often focus on packaging, including food packaging, yet the environmental impact of the food itself is frequently much greater. Research highlighted by the Flexible Packaging Association (FPA) shows that the global food system—including food production, harvesting, processing, transportation, and distribution—accounts for approximately 26% of greenhouse gas emissions, while food packaging represents about 2.2%2.
This distinction is important because when food is discarded, the environmental impact extends far beyond the packaging used for that food. The water, energy, land, transportation, and labor required to produce that food are also lost. Evaluating sustainability, therefore, requires looking beyond packaging alone and considering whether it helps prevent broader environmental losses throughout the food system.
Packaging Plays a Critical Preservation Role
The primary purpose of food packaging is protection. Flexible packaging helps shield products from moisture, oxygen, contamination, and other factors that can lead to spoilage. Food packaging, although it appears simple, is a highly engineered system of materials, that is designed to maintain freshness, and prevent or identify spoilage, extended longevity and protect materials throughout long transportation pathways.
Packaging engineering is a carefully calculated tradeoff between health safety and resource demand. By maintaining freshness and extending shelf life throughout distribution, retail, and consumer use, packaging plays a direct role in reducing food waste.
The impact can be substantial. According to FPA research, packaging technologies can extend the shelf life of grapes from 7 days to 70 days, broccoli from 6 days to 20 days, and steak from 3 days to 20 days3.
These gains are about more than convenience. Longer-lasting products help reduce food loss throughout the supply chain and increase the likelihood that food is ultimately consumed rather than discarded. Put simply, one of the most sustainable foods is the food that gets eaten.
Efficiency Extends Beyond Shelf Life
The sustainability benefits of flexible packaging extend beyond food preservation. Compared to many alternative packaging formats, flexible packaging typically uses less material and weighs less, helping reduce transportation demands and associated emissions.
Flexible packaging also supports source reduction, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency identifies as the most preferred strategy in the waste management hierarchy4. By using fewer resources while helping preserve more products, flexible packaging delivers environmental benefits both before and after products reach consumers.
Food Access Is Part of the Conversation
Reducing food waste and improving food access are closely connected. Longer shelf life allows products to move more efficiently through the supply chain and remain available for longer periods once they reach store shelves.
This can be particularly important in rural and underserved communities, where distribution networks may be more complex and shopping opportunities less frequent. In these situations, preserving product quality for longer periods can help improve availability, reduce spoilage, and maximize the value of food already in the system.
Ultimately, the goal is not simply to extend product life. It is helping ensure food remains available, affordable, and usable for the people who need it.
Why It Matters for Policy
Federal and state policymakers continue to prioritize food security, methane reduction, climate resilience, and supply chain reliability. Food waste sits at the intersection of all four priorities.
Reducing food waste lowers emissions, conserves resources, and maximizes the value of food already being produced. It also represents an opportunity to improve sustainability outcomes without increasing consumer costs.
Flexible packaging is not the only solution to food waste, but it is an important one. As policymakers evaluate strategies to address environmental and food security challenges, understanding the role packaging plays in preventing waste is essential.
Sustainability is not simply about reducing materials. It is about reducing waste throughout the system, and keeping food out of landfills may be one of the most significant opportunities available today.
1 Flexible Packaging Association (FPA), Food Waste Reduction Resources. Approximately 40% of food produced in the United States goes unconsumed, resulting in an estimated 36 million tons of food waste annually.
2 Flexible Packaging Association (FPA), The Role of Flexible Packaging in Reducing Food Waste. The global food system accounts for approximately 26% of greenhouse gas emissions, while food packaging accounts for approximately 2.2%.
3 Flexible Packaging Association (FPA), Food Waste Reduction Resources. Shelf-life extension examples for grapes, broccoli, and steak.
4 Flexible Packaging Association (FPA), Sustainability Resources and Circular Life Management Resources. Flexible packaging supports source reduction through reduced material use and transportation efficiency.
