If all U.S. food waste had a second life as biogas and compost, it would almost completely offset its climate impact but also create a widely spread microplastic problem. Converting the waste into biogas and compost cuts nitrogen pollution by between 49 and 54%, and phosphorus loading by 78 to 98%, compared to current landfill-focused measures. But the 20,000 extra tons of plastic pollution tilled into the soil as compost and organic byproducts from anaerobic digestion yearly would be problematic.
www.uvm.edu/gund/news/recycling-food-waste-would-bring-huge-benefits-microplastics-challenge