Why We Funded Food Cycle Science: Making Food Waste Diversion Solutions Accessible to Everyone

This piece was written by Angel Veza , Senior Manager of Capital, Innovation, & Engagement at ReFED .

Food waste is the number one material entering landfills in the United States, where it emits landfill gas composed of 45-60% methane as it decomposes. Diverting food waste from landfills is a key opportunity to reduce GHG emissions and mitigate climate change. A 2019 study conducted by the EPA suggested that food waste diversion could reduce methane generation by 33%. However, alternative waste management infrastructure that could divert food waste from landfills remains limited in the U.S. There are roughly 5,000 composting facilities nationwide, and only 500 facilities accept food scraps. Additionally, the U.S. only has 110 standalone systems that anaerobically digest food waste (not including AD facilities onsite at dairy farms, and those located within wastewater treatment facilities).

Importantly, not all U.S. households have access to food waste collection services like curbside collection or drop-off programs. Only 11% of households in the U.S. have access to programs such as these, with most of them being offered in California, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, and Minnesota. Altogether these five states represent 68% of the nation’s residential food waste collection programs. The lack of access to similar programs in other states presents a challenge, because nearly 42% of all food waste in the United States is generated at the residential level, and 47% of that is going to landfills.

Even though there is a clear need for food waste diversion infrastructure and programs, it requires significant upfront investment and could take several years to construct. Larger facilities that process up to 40,000 tons annually are expected to cost anywhere from $5 million to $9 million in upfront capital. Additionally, depending on the pace and scale of residential curbside collection, initial costs for containers and trucks could range from $17 million to $22.5 million .

These challenges present an opportunity for creative business models and partnerships that can rapidly provide consumers with access to food waste diversion solutions, which is why we funded Food Cycle Science (FCS) through the ReFED Catalytic Grant Fund.

FCS is a Canadian company that offers a product, the FoodCycler, which pulverizes and dehydrates food waste, breaking it down in 4-8 hours. No methane is produced, and the energy required is minimal, at less than 1kWh per cycle. Food waste volume is reduced by 90%, vanquishing 99% of bacteria and leaving users with a biomass that is odorless, easy to store, and can be used in gardening or farming applications to support soil health. FCS currently sells direct-to-consumer through their website foodcycler.com and on Amazon. However, they also provide a unique service to municipalities, wherein they sell or rent their household products at a subsidized rate to residents, which is what made them a compelling funding opportunity for the Catalytic Grant Fund.

The FCS service to municipalities offers a model for residential food waste diversion that focuses on decentralization, particularly in the absence of centralized composting infrastructure. Whether in an urban center, rural community, multi-family dwelling, or Indigenous community, the technology is easy to deploy and delivers immediate impacts. Not only does the FoodCycler enable users to divert food waste from landfills, but it also influences their behavior to prevent food waste. In a pilot conducted by FCS in partnership with the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, they discovered that 92% of pilot participants became motivated to waste less food upon using the FoodCycler and needed to use their FoodCycler less frequently due to the increased awareness of food waste and motivation to prevent it.

With grant funding from ReFED’s Catalytic Grant Fund, FCS has expanded its service to the U.S. market. They have pilots underway in Long Island, NY, Rye, NY, Alpharetta, GA, and Easton, CT. This exposure in the U.S. supported the distribution of over 600 FoodCycler units across King County in Washington State, and ongoing efforts have led to partnerships with key organizations and Senate staff in the Greater Seattle Area. FCS also launched a brand new rental model program with Casella , a waste management company based in Vermont that operates across the northeast. They piloted the program in Mansfield, CT, and based on the pilot results, FCS and Casella collaboratively improved the program and are rolling it out across all of Vermont, providing residents the chance to rent a FoodCycler and divert their waste from landfills.

Due in part to the impact and expansion unlocked by ReFED’s financial support, FCS was able to secure additional funding from investors like Power Sustainable Lios, which invests $25 million to $50 million per opportunity.

"This investment [from Power Sustainable Lios] is a transformative partnership for our business. Over the last few years, we’ve developed innovative, patented technology, and demonstrated its value in the market,” says Lesley Thompson, VP of Sustainability at Food Cycle Science. “By partnering with Power Sustainable Lios, we can access the capabilities, networks, and capital we need to embark on our next phase of growth, entering new channels and geographies with groundbreaking new products. Given that Food Cycle Science is a ReFED Catalytic Grant Fund winner, this investment not only highlights our ongoing leadership in sustainable waste management solutions, but also underscores the impactful support ReFED has provided to us."

To learn more about Food Cycle Science, visit https://foodcyclescience.com/ . With questions about the Catalytic Grant Fund, please contact Angel Veza at [email protected] .

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About Food Cycle Science

Food Cycle Science believes the food waste crisis can be solved if people have access to the right science-backed tools. The company offers solutions for households, communities and commercial entities, and is the developer of the FoodCycler?, the award-winning indoor food waste recycler. Food Cycle Science holds several international patents for its technology portfolio, including the one-of-a-kind VortechTM grinding system employed in the Eco 3? and Eco 5?. Established in 2011, Food Cycle Science is Canadian-owned and based in Ottawa, Ontario. For more information, visit Foodcyclescience.com .

About ReFED and the Catalytic Grant Fund

ReFED is a U.S.-based nonprofit working to catalyze the food system toward evidence-based action to stop wasting food. The ReFED Catalytic Grant Fund is designed to accelerate the development and implementation of food waste solutions across the full food system by providing non-recoverable and recoverable grants and post-grant support to initiatives with high impact potential as measured by food waste reduced and GHG emissions reduced. The Catalytic Grant Fund deploys its capital through an ongoing series of open call cycles that are built around specific, priority food waste themes, focusing on opportunities where its funding and support can unlock additional capital and/or impact that might not otherwise have been possible. For more information, visit https://grantfund.refed.org/ .