An alliance representing major parts of the US food supply chain formed a new partnership with the USDA, EPA, and FDA to reduce food waste and loss by 50% by 2030.

The Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA), an industry-led initiative focused on increasing food donation and diverting food waste from landfills, was founded by the Food Marketing Institute, Grocery Manufacturers Association, and National Restaurant Association. This week the alliance announced a formal agreement with federal agencies as part of the Winning on Reducing Food Waste Initiative that launched last year.

More than one third of all available food goes uneaten through loss or waste in the United States, according to the USDA, EPA, and FDA. Annually, 75 billion pounds of food get thrown away, the agencies said.

“Despite the important progress that has been made in increasing donations and diverting waste from landfill, we must continue to learn from each other to forge new alliances and create and implement best practices,” said Food Marketing Institute president and CEO Leslie Sarasin.

FWRA members include Ahold Delhaize, Aramark, the Cheesecake Factory, Chick-fil-A, Conagra Brands, Darden, Del Monte, Feeding America, General Mills, Kellogg’s, McDonald’s, Publix, Safeway, Sodexo, Target, Wegmans, Weis, White Castle, and Yum Brands. Several members had independently signed up for the United States Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions initiative that began in 2016.

These businesses and organizations publicly committed to reducing food loss and waste in their own US operations by 50% by 2030. Last year the three federal agencies signed a joint agreement to improve their coordination around reducing food waste nationally.

“Food waste remains the single largest category of material in US landfills,” Grocery Manufacturers Association president and CEO Geoff Freeman said this week. He added that, by collaborating with Food Marketing Institute, National Restaurant Association, and the federal agencies, the consumer packaged goods industry can “better share best practices to reducing waste and find innovative, scalable solutions to keep valuable material like food and packaging out of landfills.”