Tons Diversion Potential

Definition:

The Diversion Potential of a solution is the amount of food surplus that ReFED estimates a particular

solution could avoid if fully implemented along with other ReFED-proposed solutions. It is applied only to

the portions of food surplus that are considered addressable by that solution. For a solution that applies

only to foodservice kitchens, for instance, the diversion rate would only be applied to back-of-house

surplus, not to surplus that is plate waste or that occurs in other sectors.

Master Diversion Potential Equation:

Solution Diversion Potential = Addressable Surplus * Solution Diversion Rate

In ReFED’s data model, the following calculations are repeated for every sector, cause, food type, and

state before any aggregation is done

Table 1. Calculations Performed to Estimate Diversion Potential of U.S. Food Waste Solutions

DATA ITEM	DATA SOURCE OR CALCULATION	EXAMPLE
Tons Addressable Surplus	Food Waste Monitor, Solutions Database Modeling	According to the Food Waste Monitor, there were __solutions_example_tons_due_to_cause__ tons of surplus __solutions_example_refed_food_department__ in the __solutions_example_sub_sector__ __solutions_example_sub_sector_category__ __solutions_example_sector__ sector due to __solutions_example_cause_name__ in __solutions_example_state__ in __solutions_example_year__. After subtracting the amount of this __solutions_example_cause_name__ that ReFED estimates could be addressed by higher priority solutions (e.g., Prevention solutions), ReFED estimates that there would be __solutions_example_tons_addressable__ tons of __solutions_example_refed_food_department__ __solutions_example_cause_name__ in the __solutions_example_state__ __solutions_example_sub_sector__ __solutions_example_sub_sector_category__ __solutions_example_sector__ sector left for the solution ‘__solutions_example_solution_name__’ to address.
Solution Diversion Rate	Multiple data sources (See Appendix G for the Solution Diversion Rate data sources for each solution)	ReFED assumed that ‘__solutions_example_solution_name__’ could reduce the amount of food that goes uneaten due to __solutions_example_sector__ __solutions_example_cause_name__ by __solutions_example_diversion_rate__%.
Annual Solution Diversion Potential	= Tons Addressable Surplus * Solution Diversion Rate	= __solutions_example_tons_addressable__ tons addressable surplus * __solutions_example_diversion_rate__% diversion = __solutions_example_tons_diverted__ tons of __solutions_example_refed_food_department__ __solutions_example_cause_name__ could be prevented in the __solutions_example_state__ __solutions_example_sub_sector__ __solutions_example_sub_sector_category__ __solutions_example_sector__ sector annually if ‘__solutions_example_solution_name__’ was fully implemented. Reminder: This example calculation is not the total diversion potential for the solution. These calculations were repeated for every sector, cause, food type, and state before aggregating and summing the total diversion potential for each solution.