Urban Farm DB
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Database research record2026·United States

Composting | US EPA

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Urban Farm DB summary

This EPA page explains composting: food waste is responsible for 58% of landfill methane emissions and makes up 24.1% of municipal solid waste. Of the 66.2 million tons of food waste generated in the US in 2019, only 5% was composted. Compost adds organic matter and boosts soil microbial diversity, reduces reliance on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and — because it is typically processed near where it is generated — supports local economies.

Extracted facts

4 facts

Only numbers and their conditions are stored, as structured data — never the source's own sentences. Metric and condition names stay in English, as coded.

  • 58 %

    food waste share of landfill methane(landfill methane)

    Climate
    region
    United States
    year
    null
    method
    null
  • 5 %

    composting rate(food waste)

    Compost
    region
    United States
    year
    2019
    method
    null
  • 24.1 %

    food share of msw(municipal solid waste)

    Compost
    region
    United States
    year
    null
    method
    null
  • 66.2 million_ton

    total food waste generated(food waste)

    Compost
    region
    United States
    year
    2019
    method
    null

Direction of conclusions

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  • Carbon / GHGSupports
  • Compost / nutrient cycleSupports

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