How our GreenStripe® Products Help Keep Food out of Landfills
Posted by Eco-Products on Jul 14th 2026
When food ends up in a landfill, the impact extends far beyond wasted meals. In the U.S., food waste is the largest category of material sent to landfills, accounting for approximately 24% of municipal solid waste. As food breaks down in landfills, it generates methane, a greenhouse gas that is significantly more potent than carbon dioxide. In fact, food waste is responsible for an estimated 58% of methane emissions generated by landfills.
While compostable products alone are not a solution to food waste, they can play an important role in broader organics diversion strategies.
How GreenStripe® products support food waste diversion and help mitigate climate change: Designed with the end-of-life pathway in mind
GreenStripe® products are made with renewable raw materials and designed for composting in commercial composting facilities. BPI-certified GreenStripe® compostable containers, cups, wraps, and cutlery can be collected alongside food scraps in communities where composting infrastructure that accepts food and certified compostable packaging exists.
By enabling food scraps and compostable foodservice packaging to be collected together in one bin, GreenStripe® products can help simplify waste sorting for both guests and employees and keep these materials out of landfills and send them to compost facilities instead. This streamlined approach can also help reduce contamination in compost streams and make it easier for operators to divert waste from landfills.
Organics Diversion and Climate Goals
Keeping food out of landfills is an important part of addressing climate change. When food is disposed of in landfills, it generates methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Project Drawdown identifies both food waste prevention and composting as leading climate solutions. Preventing food waste delivers the greatest climate benefit by avoiding emissions associated with producing, transporting, and disposing of food that is never eaten. Composting also plays an important role in helping keep food out of landfills and reducing landfill methane emissions while creating compost, a beneficial soil amendment that, when applied to land, helps improve soil health and sequester carbon from the atmosphere.
While compostable products alone are not a solution to food waste, they can play an important role in broader organics diversion strategies. In communities where composting infrastructure exists and accepts certified compostable products, compostable foodservice packaging can be collected alongside food scraps, helping simplify collection systems and support efforts to divert organic materials from landfills.
The PZW Advantage
Choosing certified compostable products is only part of the equation. Successful waste diversion programs also depend on clear signage, employee and guest education, well designed collection systems, and operational best practices.
That’s where the Eco-Products Product & Zero Waste Specialists (PZW) come in and make a difference. The PZW team works directly with customers, operators, composters, and haulers to develop and strengthen diversion strategies, educate staff and guests, reduce contamination, and help implement systems that support successful organics diversion programs.
By combining compostable products with expert guidance and operational support, the PZW team helps organizations increase diversion rates, reduce landfill waste, and achieve sustainability goals.
A More Circular Approach to Foodservice Packaging
Certified compostable products are just one piece of a successful organics diversion strategy. When paired with the right infrastructure, education, and operational practices, they can help support a more circular approach to waste in foodservice settings. In communities with compost infrastructure that accepts certified compostable products, food and compostable packaging can be recovered through composting rather than sent to landfills. This helps keep valuable organic materials in circulation, supports organics diversion efforts, and reduces methane emissions associated with landfilled food waste.
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