INDIANA FOOD SCRAP INITIATIVE (IFSI) LAUNCHES TO REDUCE FOOD WASTE

An estimated 35 million tons of food is discarded each year in the U.S., equaling $165 billion in food waste.

INDIANAPOLIS (April 11, 2016) -The Indiana Recycling Coalition (IRC) is pleased to announce the launch of a new multi-stakeholder initiative designed to reduce food waste in Indiana. The Indiana Food Scrap Initiative (IFSI) will explore the issues that cause food waste and will work to divert as much food from disposal as possible.

“The Indiana Recycling Coalition is thrilled to launch this food waste reduction initiative with support from stakeholders across Indiana,” said Carey Hamilton, Executive Director, Indiana Recycling Coalition. “We have received an overwhelmingly positive response from all corners of the state as we’ve laid the groundwork for this Initiative. Now is clearly the right time to work on food waste reduction in Indiana,” continued Hamilton.

Over the coming months, the IRC will host a series of meetings to reveal the causes, hurdles and opportunities to saving more food at every rung of the waste management hierarchy - prevention, reuse, composting and digestion - to spur opportunities and build comprehensive infrastructure to address Indiana’s food scrap challenge. Very little infrastructure for managing food scraps exists in Indiana today, though local stakeholders, coupled with models from other parts of the country, offer common-sense solutions for Hoosiers.

Thanks to seed funding from Meijer, GreenCycle of Indiana, City of Fort Wayne, Lake County Solid Waste Management District (SWMD), Clean Green Rush and Allen County SWMD, the IRC has hired two facilitators for the Initiative: Julie L. Rhodes and Dori Chandler. These two sustainable materials management experts will facilitate future IFSI meetings, data collection, outreach and more. The IRC is working to secure additional funding that will support the development of a food recovery road map and toolkit for stakeholders including Indiana’s local governments, institutions, food banks, farmers, food producers, grocers, event venues and restaurants.

###

About the Indiana Recycling Coalition

The Indiana Recycling Coalition (IRC) is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization formed in 1989 to support source reduction, reuse, composting and recycling activities in Indiana. The IRC’s members include state and local governments, business, industry, not-for-profits and individuals. Visit the IRC website at www.indianarecycling.org or follow us on Facebook or on Twitter @INRecycling