Pacific Coast Food Waste Commitment

Help Us Cut Food Waste in Half By 2030

Food Waste Reduction Training

Individuals and business teams can be empowered to fight food waste at every node of the supply chain! Together with Triple Win Advisory and Bob’s Red Mill Manufacturing, the PCFWC created this food waste education and training video. It covers why food waste is a concern, where it occurs along the food supply chain, and what companies and individuals can do about it. Filled with infographics and engaging visuals, the intended audience is for staff members in retail, manufacturing, and restaurants, and for individuals wanting to understand steps they can take to reduce food waste in their home. 

Employee Engagement Toolkit

After three successful employee engagement pilots that resulted in food waste reductions between 50-75%, the U.S. Food Waste Pact has put together a toolkit for any food business to successfully pilot an employee engagement intervention project. This toolkit has video tutorials, step-by-step guides, idea trackers, and more to help any business engage its staff and reduce food waste in its operations.

Food Business Signatories

Why Food Waste?

In the United States, 35% of food goes unsold or uneaten. It’s an enormous waste of environmental resources, including freshwater and cropland, and is responsible for more than one-fifth of all landfill volume. It’s also a major factor impacting the climate – in fact, the 2020 Drawdown Review from Project Drawdown ranks “reduced food waste” as one of its top solutions to decrease global greenhouse gas emissions. Food waste also affects the economy – new estimates put the cost of food waste in the Pacific Coast region alone at more than $65 billion, which is shouldered by businesses and consumers alike. And in 2020, COVID-19 brought the issue of food waste to national attention, as pandemic-related disruptions and bottlenecks caused spikes in the amount of loss and waste throughout the supply chain, all while tens of millions of people wondered where their next meal would come from.

How Can Your Business Reduce and Prevent Food Loss and Waste

1. Commit: Sign on to the PCFWC to reduce and prevent wasted food by 50% by 2030 and work towards implementing existing commitments made under UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 and Champions 2030 as a region.
2. Measure: Establish a streamlined methodology for measurement with the support of the PCFWC technical team and contribute to anonymized reporting through your own individual online dashboard – measurement makes management easier, and data gathered from your business and others will help identify areas to target.
3. Act: Drive systemic change through pre-competitive industry collaboration to find solutions to shared barriers to reducing food waste. Contribute to demonstration projects, share and develop industry-wide best practices, and receive technical assistance related to policy, financing, business solutions, and education.

What Does Joining the PCFWC Mean for Your Business?

• The PCFWC is a voluntary agreement for food businesses to publicly commit to private sector action to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030.
• All PCFWC signatories establish a baseline year for wasted food within their operations and report against it annually.
• Signatories can participate in pre-competitive and collaborative working groups to discuss key waste hotspots within the value chain (on topics such as food rescue and minimizing produce and dairy waste).
• All signatories will receive support via facilitated convenings and hands-on engagement designed to help them reach their commitments, meet annual reporting goals, and implement meaningful actions that reduce wasted food.
• There’s no cost for year one – a cost-effective annual fee will be introduced in subsequent years.

How Does the PCFWC Benefit Your Business?

• Proven ROI: Food waste reduction programs have shown proven return on investment for all food-sector businesses.
• Analysis at Scale: Individual anonymous reporting will help your business measure progress, identify priority areas of action, and develop broader industry benchmarking.
• Actionable Insights: By collaborating through pre-competitive working groups, your business will gain best practices and insights into key waste hotspots to help achieve results faster—all while helping to build a regional roadmap for additional businesses to join the effort to reduce wasted food.
• Leadership and Community Building: Demonstrate your leadership on climate and hunger issues while engaging your community through increased and more streamlined food rescue and donation activities.

A Collaboration Model That Works

The PCFWC is based on a successful industry-supported voluntary agreement in the United Kingdom called the “Courtauld Commitment.” This effort resulted in:

• Overall delivery of a 19% reduction in UK food waste.
• More than £100 million in business savings from reducing food waste.
• A 14:1 return on investment for every dollar spent on food waste reduction.
• A 50% increase in food redistribution to those struggling with food insecurity.
• A reduction of 555,000 metric tons of CO2e emissions in the food and supply chain.

Join Us to Reduce Wasted Food by 50% by 2030

Fill out the form below to take the first step toward reducing wasted food on the West Coast.

Think Global. Act Local.