The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) has joined the U.S. Food Waste Pact, a voluntary agreement that brings together companies across the food system to reduce food waste. The move formally places the U.S. hotel industry alongside retailers, manufacturers, and foodservice operators that have already signed on to the initiative.
Food waste has long been a significant operational issue for hotels, although it has rarely been addressed in a coordinated way across the sector. The pact does not introduce new rules or mandates, but it does create a shared framework for measuring waste and comparing progress, something the hospitality industry has largely lacked.
What the U.S. Food Waste Pact Does
The U.S. Food Waste Pact is led by the nonprofit ReFED and the World Wildlife Fund. It asks participating organizations to follow a “Target, Measure, Act” structure, setting reduction goals, tracking food waste more consistently, and testing ways to prevent surplus food from being generated in the first place.
Companies are not required to meet specific targets, but they are expected to improve how waste is measured and to engage with other members on solutions. AHLA is the 30th organization to join. Supporters of the pact say it is meant to move past one-off pilot projects and toward more comparable data across the food economy, from grocery retail to foodservice and hospitality.
Food Waste in Hotels: The Scale of the Issue
In the United States, an estimated 29% of food produced is never eaten. Much of it ends up in landfills, where decomposing food generates methane, a greenhouse gas with a significantly higher warming potential than carbon dioxide.
Hotels represent a smaller share of the food system than retail or manufacturing, but the numbers remain large. Data cited by AHLA indicate that lodging accounts for nearly 10% of food waste across the U.S. food system. In volume, that equates to roughly two billion meals per year, with an estimated value of $17 billion.
Within hotels, waste tends to come from predictable sources. Buffets, overproduction in kitchens, inaccurate demand forecasting, and guest plate waste all contribute. Food that is already purchased, prepared, and stored often becomes surplus before it can be redirected or donated.
Why the Industry Is Paying More Attention
Cost pressure is part of the reason food waste has moved higher on the agenda. Food prices remain volatile, and disposal costs have risen in many U.S. cities. Cutting waste reduces purchasing needs and lowers hauling and landfill fees.
There is also growing pressure around reporting. Large hotel brands increasingly include food waste in sustainability disclosures, even when they are not legally required to do so. Guests, particularly business travelers and younger consumers, are paying closer attention to how hotels manage food and other resources.
AHLA has pointed to existing efforts as evidence that waste reduction is feasible. The association has worked with the World Wildlife Fund on the Hotel Kitchen program, which provides guidance on food waste audits, staff training, and donation practices. According to WWF, hotels participating in the program have reported food waste reductions of up to 38% over short trial periods.
In announcing the pact membership, AHLA vice president Lauren Pravlik said reducing food waste helps ensure that food “reaches families, not landfills,” framing the issue as both an environmental and operational concern.
What Joining the Pact Changes and What It Doesn’t
Joining the U.S. Food Waste Pact gives AHLA members access to shared tools and benchmarks, but it does not require hotels to adopt specific practices. Outcomes will depend on how actively individual companies engage with measurement and reporting.
For large hotel groups, the pact may help align internal sustainability targets with external frameworks. For smaller operators, implementation could be more challenging. Tracking food waste requires time, staff training, and consistent processes, resources that are not evenly distributed across the sector.
Because participation is voluntary, accountability remains an open question. The pact relies on transparency rather than enforcement. Whether members publish data, set meaningful targets, and follow through will likely determine how much impact the initiative has.
A Broader Shift, with Limits
Food waste reduction in hospitality is part of a wider push to improve efficiency across the food system. Globally, roughly one-third of food produced is lost or wasted before consumption. In the U.S., policymakers and industry groups have increasingly framed food waste as both a climate issue and an economic one.
The hotel sector’s involvement reflects that shift, but progress is unlikely to be uniform. Differences in property size, service models, and guest expectations make standardized solutions difficult. Some hotels have already invested in tracking and prevention, while others are still at an early stage.
What Comes Next
AHLA’s entry into the U.S. Food Waste Pact does not change policy overnight, but it signals a willingness by the hotel industry to engage more directly with national food waste reduction efforts. The practical impact will depend on whether hotels move beyond participation and begin publishing data, adjusting operations, and sharing results.
For now, the move reflects a growing recognition that food waste is not just a sustainability issue. For hotels, it is increasingly a matter of cost control, efficiency, and operational discipline.
