Food Entrepreneurship, Excess, Applied Science and Technology Initiative
FEEAST
FEEAST Food
Waste Data Project
Memo #1
NC Excess Food Study – High Level Estimates for Eastern and Triangle regions
SUMMARY: This memo outlines the deliverables for Tasks 1 and 2 of the NC Excess Food Study, focusing on the Eastern and Triangle regions. The objective is to provide high-level estimates of generators of excess food across five sectors: Household, Restaurants, Institutional, Grocery Stores, and Industrial.
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PURPOSE: Provides high-level estimates of excess food generated in the Eastern and Triangle regions of North Carolina across five sectors: households, restaurants, institutional, grocery stores, and industrial.
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Regions Covered:
• Eastern NC: Includes counties like Wilson, Beaufort, Craven, Wayne, and more.
• Triangle NC: Includes counties like Durham, Wake, Orange, and others.
• Sources: Primarily from the EPA Excess Food Opportunities Map, with additional sources for specific sectors.
Eastern NC Findings:
• Total excess food: 548,481 tons per year (TPY), with 70% from the industrial sector.
• Per capita generation: 0.62 TPY.
Triangle NC Findings:
• Total excess food: 589,603 TPY, with households contributing 36%.
• Per capita generation: 0.21 TPY.
Limitations: Estimates are approximations due to reliance on public data and food waste estimation factors.
The regions encompass specific counties:
Eastern:
Wilson, Beaufort, Lenoir, Craven, Wayne, Edgecombe, Nash, Greene, Martin, Bertie, and Halifax.
Triangle:
Durham, Wake, Orange, Chatham, Alamance, Guilford, Johnston, Vance, Person, and Granville.
Data primarily sourced from the EPA Excess Food Opportunities Map, supplemented by various other sources for different sectors:
Residential: US Census Bureau and NC OSBM.
Institutional: NC DHHS, AssistedLiving Near Me website, NC DOA, NC Report Cards, and "The National Data Base of Scholarships" by Free-4u.com.
Grocery Stores: NC DHHS, NC DA&CS, and NC Christmas Tree Association.
Industrial: Piedmont Triad Regional Council.
The Institutional sector includes detention facilities, nursing homes, assisted living homes, hospitals, mental health hospitals, adult care homes, colleges and universities, and aggregated K-12 school data. Notably, some restaurant chains are missing from the data. Most of the EPA excess food generation estimates were utilized except for some of the grocery stores, which based on my judgement was underestimated, however it was not a huge number of grocery stores. The majority of the missing food generation estimates were calculated using the Rochester Institute of Technology and the rest based on experience. Descriptions of the methodology and data sources are detailed following the figures presented below.
It is important to interpret the information provided and any data shared as a high-level approximation. Estimating excess food is complex, relying on public data, methods, and experience. Wanu does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided as it has not been verified and that was not part of the scope of work. Further analysis is advised to improve the accuracy of the estimates.
Figure 1. Summary of Estimated Excess Food Generated by Group and Region.
EASTERN NC
The total estimated excess food generated in the Eastern NC region is 548,481 TPY. Based on a population of 891,391, the per capital generation is 0.62 TPY. Note about the Industrial category: 33,961 of the 383,773 (about 9%), is estimated food waste from the EPA database from bottling plants, including Coca-Cola. Taking this out of the total would provide a new total for the Eastern NC region of 514,520 TPY and 0.58 TPY per capital. Figures 2 and 3 include the bottling plants.
Figure 2. Bar graph showing excess food generated by group in the Eastern NC region.
Figure 3. Pie chart showing excess food generated by group in the Eastern NC region. Values in TPY.
TRIANGLE NC
The total estimated excess food generated in the Triangle NC region is 589,603 TPY.
Based on a population of 2,836,148, the per capital generation equivalent is 0.21 TPY.
Figure 4. Bar graph showing excess food generated by group in the Triangle NC region. Values in TPY.
Figure 5. Pie chart showing excess food generated by group in the Triangle NC region. Values in TPY.
METHODOLOGY AND DATA SOURCES
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No establishments were contacted to estimate the generation of excess food.
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This is a high-level analysis based on publicly available data and food waste estimation factors.
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Estimated missing excess food were calculated using the RTI Food Waste Estimator.
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Downloaded data from EPA Excess Food Opportunities Map.
• Used average of low and high estimates.
• EPA’s disclaimer: The mapped establishments and their locations are provided for informational purposes only. The Agency does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information provided as it has not been verified.
• Filled gaps with averages from code descriptions, sometimes excluding outliers.
• About 15% of the line items did not have excess food data.
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​Most of the grocery store chains missing.
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Used 3 sets of additional data: (1) Christmas Tree grocery store list provided by Napoleon, (2) Walmart, Harris Teeter, and Publix by NC DHHS, and (3) Grocery stores by NC DA&CS.
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NC DHHS: Alisha Garrett, alisha.garrett@dhhs.nc.gov, 919-707-5866.
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NC DA&CS: Andrea Hartlley, andrea.hartley@ncagr.gov, 984-236-4848.
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RTI factor is 57.69 lbs/employee/week. No data available on square footage or employee count.
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For generation, these factors were used based on conversations with industry colleagues:1 ton/day generation for grocery store chains and for the rest 0.25 tons/day. It is hard to estimate generation without knowing the specifics for each place, it could vary a lot depending on the size of establishment and whether it has a deli department for example.
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Some of the grocery stores have multiple line items on the data provided by NC DHHS. This is because there are multiple permits for things such as deli, produce, meat market, seafood, cheese, sushi, or coffee shops. For simplicity I only assigned a value of 1 ton/day generation (364 tons/year) per grocery store (not per line item).
Total records for Eastern and Triangle regions
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EPA: 8,528
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Grocery stores: 1,177, includes 83 from EPA, but only 763 are assigned factors.
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Higher Ed: 76
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Total entities: 9,781
Memo #2
NC Excess Food Study – County Summaries
DESCRIPTION: This memo provides a breakdown of the data broken up by County and Group.
PURPOSE: Presents detailed breakdowns of excess food generation by counties in the Eastern and Triangle regions. Same data with different charts and characteristics presented.
• Eastern NC Summary:
• Top contributors: Wayne (109,114 TPY), Pitt (65,523 TPY), and Nash (59,531 TPY).
• Total for all counties: 383,773 TPY across various sectors.
• Triangle NC Summary:
• Top contributors: Wake (245,816 TPY), Guilford (127,383 TPY), and Durham (57,245 TPY).
• Total for all counties: 589,603 TPY.
The data is presented through tables and figures, showing both stacked and clustered columns for visual comparison across different groups (households, restaurants, institutions, grocery stores, industrial).
Table 1. Eastern NC Summary by County and Group. Values in tons per year (TPY).
Table 2. Triangle NC Summary by County and Group. Values in TPY.
Figure 1. Eastern NC – Stacked columns showing the breakdown by County and Group. Values in TPY.
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Figure 2. Eastern NC – Clustered columns showing the breakdown by County and Group. Values in TPY.
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Figure 3. Triangle NC – Stacked columns showing the breakdown by County and Group. Values in TPY.
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Figure 4. Triangle NC – Clustered columns showing the breakdown by County and Group. Values in TPY.
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Memo #3
NC Excess Food Study – GHGe and Lost Values
DESCRIPTION:
This memo addresses the greenhouse gas emissions equivalent and lost value as part of Tasks 3 and 4. For the greenhouse gas emissions equivalent, ReFED data was analyzed and it is suggested that the landfilled values are used since it is not within the scope or budget to obtained detailed data from various entities. The values are shown on Table 1 below. Additionally, the lost value factors are best represented by the ReFED retail cost per pound. The values are shown on Table 1 below and they were matched according to the type of entity, as shown on the master spreadsheet (“NC Excess Food – Master v5 – May 2024.xlsx”) in the Factors tab. Note that when the type of entity was a supermarket or a hospital, it was assumed that they had an equivalent excess food of all food types, i.e. they wasted the same amount of produce, beverages, breads, etc. If the name was specific to the type of food created, then a similar food type was assigned.
PURPOSE: Focuses on the greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe) and lost retail values related to excess food.
KEY METRICS:
• GHGe: Calculated using ReFED data, focusing on landfilled emissions.
• Lost Value: Represented using retail cost per pound for various food types.
• Eastern NC Findings:
• Total emissions range across counties, with the industrial sector being a significant contributor.
• Lost retail value: Breakdown provided by sector and county.
• Triangle NC Findings:
• Similar approach with a detailed breakdown of emissions and lost retail values for each sector and county.
• Visualization: The memo includes figures showing the distribution of emissions and lost retail values per sector and county.
These summaries provide a comprehensive look into the data and analysis provided in the NC Excess Food Study, covering high-level estimates, county-level breakdowns, and the environmental and economic impacts of excess food waste.
Table 1. Greenhouse gas emissions equivalent and lost value factors.
Table 2. Eastern NC Summary by County and Group. Metric tons CO2 per year.
Table 3. Triangle NC Summary by County and Group. Metric tons CO2 per year.
Table 4. Eastern NC Summary by County and Group. Retail cost equivalent per ton.
Table 5. Triangle NC Summary by County and Group. Retail cost equivalent per ton.
Figure 1. Eastern NC – Stacked columns showing the breakdown by County and Group.
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Figure 2. Triangle NC – Stacked columns showing the breakdown by County and Group.
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Figure 3. Eastern NC – Stacked columns showing the breakdown by County and Group.
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Figure 4. Triangle NC – Stacked columns showing the breakdown by County and Group.
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Mapping Excess Food Project Map
Please click the map for additional details and interactive components.
