NIST Food Waste Reduction and Recovery Workshop

NIST’s Circular Economy Program is supporting the nation’s transition from a linear economic model to a cyclical one, where the materials we mine/farm/extract from the environment remain in the economy as long as feasibly possible and are not discarded after use. Food loss and waste is a new topic area within the Circular Economy Program, and we are planning to host a workshop to determine how NIST can serve the food/organic waste community in their efforts to reduce and repurpose the waste. Specifically, we’re aiming to understand the generation and state of recovery of food waste, including for energy and nutrient recovery. Ultimately, we seek to identify industry wide challenges and needs to overcome barriers, particularly in the areas of data, measurement science, reference materials, and standards. The workshop participants will include industrial, academic, nonprofit, and government stakeholders who will discuss means for creating value via the circular economy, and among other issues, what metrology, data, and standards might be necessary to accomplish this goal.

Potential topics for the workshop include:

• Current and Emerging Technology
• Characterization & Contamination
• Data, Measurement, and Modeling
• Legal and Regulatory Barriers and Opportunities