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Earn LEED & TRUE Certification Points with Food Waste Monitoring

A comprehensive guide to achieving green building certifications through food waste reduction

FoodSight•2025

Executive Summary

Green building certifications have become essential credentials for commercial properties. LEED and TRUE both place significant emphasis on waste management—including food waste.

Key Takeaways:

LEED v5 includes new requirements for organics/food waste diversion planning as a prerequisite
TRUE certification offers up to 7 points specifically for composting and food waste programs
Both certifications require documented measurement and tracking of waste streams
Food waste reduction supports Scope 3 emissions reporting

LEED Certification Levels

40-49

Certified

50-59

Silver

60-79

Gold

80+

Platinum

LEED Credits for Food Waste

MRp: Planning for Zero Waste Operations

Prerequisite

Requires dedicated space for organics/food waste collection and a zero waste operations plan.

MRc: Waste Performance

Up to 12 points

Points awarded based on waste diversion rate. Food waste composting contributes to overall diversion.

TRUE Zero Waste Certification

TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) is dedicated entirely to waste reduction. To achieve certification, facilities must achieve a minimum 90% diversion rate from landfill.

31-37

Certified

38-45

Silver

46-63

Gold

64+

Platinum

TRUE Credits for Food Waste

Compost (Re-earth)— Composting food scraps—pre and post-consumer

7 pts

Reuse - Animal Feed— Donating suitable food waste to animal feed programs

1 pt

Reduce— Source reduction credits from waste prevention programs

8 pts

Zero Waste Reporting— Tracking and reporting food waste data

4 pts

Training— Staff training on food waste reduction

5 pts

Total potential: A comprehensive food waste program can contribute 25-30 points toward TRUE certification—nearly enough for basic certification from food waste alone.

Implementation Roadmap

Assessment

Conduct baseline waste audit, identify certification targets

Infrastructure

Install measurement equipment, set up organics collection

Training

Train staff, assign waste champions, create visual guides

Measurement

Track waste daily/weekly, conduct weekly reviews

Documentation

Compile 12 months data, submit for certification

Ready to Earn Certification Credits?

FoodSight provides automated food waste monitoring that generates certification-ready documentation aligned with LEED and TRUE requirements.

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