Briefing Series: Reduce and Reuse

Find out more about the briefings in this series below:

The built environment uses an immense amount of carbon-intensive materials such as concrete and steel. Switching building materials to lower-carbon alternatives can reduce the climate impacts of the built environment, but first, systems must be put in place to assess and reduce the carbon intensity of materials. When buildings reach the ends of their lives, there are also opportunities to reuse materials. Panelists discussed ways to reduce emissions and material waste in the built environment from construction and deconstruction.

Key Takeaways

• Embodied carbon emissions are the emissions that come from building materials as they are extracted, processed, manufactured, transported, distributed, and disposed of. These are separate from emissions that come from operating a building.
• Embodied emissions can be reduced by using fewer building materials; reusing materials; optimizing the structure of the building for long-term durability; and minimizing waste during construction. Zoning laws, environmental product declarations (which report environmental impacts across entire life cycles), and building codes are three policy levers that can be used to incentivize the reduction of embodied carbon emissions in building materials.
• Federal funding for sustainable circular economy research and development initiatives could include creating innovative bio-based materials that are biodegradable; inventing technologies to disassemble existing buildings; developing materials passport technology (to track materials so they can be more easily recovered after demolition); testing pilot projects to see what works and what needs improvement; and mapping material flows and building component stocks to understand how materials are used in a city.
• At the national level, there is a need for a shared vision of a circular economy and for a circular economy action plan that will guide states and cities in developing their own local supply economies. There is also a need for clear targets, metrics, and indicators to monitor progress.

Plastic production is expected to account for an increasing portion of global oil consumption and its resulting greenhouse gas emissions as plastics become more ubiquitous worldwide. Panelists discussed findings from Beyond Plastics’ new report, The New Coal: Plastics and Climate Change; how emissions associated with plastic production affect communities across the country; and potential policy solutions.

Key Takeaways

• The New Coal: Plastics and Climate Change report takes a detailed look at ten ways greenhouse gases are released through the manufacturing, use, and disposal of plastics, from “fracking to cracking to incineration.” The U.S. plastics industry is responsible for at least 232 million tons of carbon-dioxide-equivalent emissions per year.
• The report also looks at where plastic production is happening: 90 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from plastic production facilities come from just 18 low-income, minority communities, mostly in Texas and Louisiana.
• The Reuse Wins report looks at the life-cycle analysis of food packaging, evaluating environmental impacts from creation to disposal. The report found that reusable food packaging generally beat single-use for each of the 14 environmental measures studied. Reusable packaging also saves businesses money.
• Organizations have worked together to create a model extended producer responsibility (EPR) bill, a model comprehensive food waste reduction policy, and Upstream’s Reuse Policy Playbook to provide policy ideas on how to reduce the use and quantity of single-use products, including single-use plastics.

While composting is a solution for downstream food waste management, upstream reduction of food waste and food waste diversion can be the first steps to reduce emissions and resources unnecessarily used across the sector. Panelists discussed some strategies available to policymakers that could bolster food waste reduction and diversion efforts.

Key Takeaways

• In November 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency released a new report, From Farm-to-Kitchen: The Environmental Impacts of U.S. Food Waste. They estimate the annual greenhouse gas emissions of food loss and waste to be equal to those of 42 coal-fired power plants and the annual water and energy used on wasted food to be enough to supply 50 million homes.
• The United States has a national goal that aligns with a U.N. goal to reduce food loss and waste by 50 percent by 2030.
• ReFED, a nonprofit seeking to end food waste in the United States, conducted an extensive analysis and found that it is possible to reach the 50 percent goal, but it will take an investment of about $14 billion annually, from the private and public sectors. ReFED estimates a return on investment of about $73 billion in net financial benefit. The United States would save four trillion gallons of water, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 75 million tons, provide four billion meals to people in need, and create 51,000 jobs.
• According to the Global Food Donation Policy Atlas, there are six major areas of law that impact whether safe surplus food is donated or rescued or whether it goes to waste. These areas include food safety, date labeling, liability, tax incentives and barriers, requirements and penalties, and government grants and incentives.
• Tools for policymakers seeking to reduce food waste include the ReFED Insights Engine, an interactive tool that allows one to explore solutions by priority area; The Food Law and Policy Clinic’s U.S. Food Waste Policy Finder, a database of state policies; and the U.S. Food Loss and Waste Policy Action Plan.