Recycling food waste has a huge climate upside and a surprising downside.

per Anthropocene Magazine, a new analysis finds that capturing U.S. food waste for biogas and compost could slash its climate footprint by up to ninety nine percent. According to Anthropocene Magazine, the same pathways would cut nitrogen runoff by nearly half and phosphorus pollution by up to ninety eight percent compared with landfill disposal. But the researchers warn that scaling this approach could add roughly twenty thousand tons of plastic to agricultural soils each year, because packaging fragments cling to the waste. They note that improving packaging design, or even cutting single‑use materials, could prevent that pollution while preserving the climate benefits. Ultimately, the study suggests that smarter packaging may be the key to unlocking the upside without the downside.

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