February 1, 2022
EPA Region 7 honors K-State Pollution Prevention Institute for sustainable food management practices
The Kansas State University Pollution Prevention Institute was recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 for notable achievements and innovations in EPA's 2020 Food Recovery Challenge because of its promotion of EPA's sustainable management of food principles.
"The EPA Food Recovery Challenge Award winners demonstrate how preventing food waste and diverting excess wholesome food away from landfills and to people is important for the environment and for communities," said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. "Their accomplishments serve as excellent examples to other companies, governments, organizations and communities, particularly because food is the single largest category of waste. We have an obligation to follow the lead of our award winners, not only for the sake of 35 million food-insecure Americans, but also to prevent emissions that contribute to climate change."
Through the Food Recovery Challenge, EPA has worked with organizations and businesses for the past decade to set data-driven goals, implement targeted strategies to reduce wasted food in their operations, and report results to compete for recognition.
The K-State Pollution Prevention Institute provided 30 outreach presentations and held a food recovery recognition event while providing food recovery-related technical assistance to an additional 50 organizations.
"The Pollution Prevention Institute's team is passionate about providing food recovery assistance and awareness programming that results in social, economic and environmental impact," said Nancy Larson, institute director.
With the institute's consultation, organizations donated 48.5 tons of excess food to pantries to feed people and to provide animal feed to farmers. The organizations also composted 16 tons of food waste, diverting this waste from Kansas landfills.