Walmart reveals new tech that can turn expired food into compost and biofuel — here's how it works

Food waste is a serious problem at grocery stores worldwide. While there are steps retailers can take to minimize it, it's almost inevitable that some food will expire on shelves — and when it does, it's important to have a climate-friendly plan for dealing with it. 

A new collaboration between Walmart and organic material recycler Denali promises to streamline the food recycling process at the nation's largest retailer, benefiting customers and employees alike.

What's happening?

In the past, recycling food meant that Walmart employees often had to go through the process of "depackaging" — removing food from its plastic or cardboard packaging by hand.

But now, Walmart's partnership with Denali will provide over 1,400 Walmart and Sam's Club locations with locked bins for food waste. Instead of depackaging food, employees can toss expired products into the bins for Denali trucks to pick up.

The food waste is then taken to Denali's depackaging facilities, where mechanical sorters remove up to 97% of the packaging automatically. Depending on exactly what is thrown away, Denali can process the remaining food into:

🍃 compost
🐮 animal feed
✈️ or even biofuel 

You can see a video of the whole process here.

Why is the new Walmart x Denali initiative important?

According to ReFED, a national nonprofit dedicated to ending food waste, the U.S. generated over 77 million tons of food waste in 2022 alone. When that discarded food goes to landfills, it decomposes and produces methane, a heat-trapping gas that's overheating the planet.

Walmart has made a commitment to avoid that by donating or recycling as much food as possible to minimize waste (it's aiming to get to zero operational waste by 2025). And Denali's collaboration opens a clear path toward more efficient recycling now that each item doesn't have to be depackaged by hand.

After being sent to Denali, discarded food can do good instead of harm. Expired or damaged produce, dry goods, bakery and deli scraps, and more can now help grow more food so that the resources that went into it aren't wasted. Or these depacked products can even be turned into heat and power.

"When they're built in for our associates, innovations like Zero Depack [Walmart x Denali's partnership] make the more sustainable action the default action," RJ Zanes, Walmart's VP of facility services, wrote in the recent announcement.

What's Walmart's overall sustainability plan?

Walmart has launched several eco-friendly initiatives in recent years to meet two of its overarching sustainability goals in particular: using 100% renewable energy by 2035 and canceling out its vehicle emissions by 2040. 

As of now, it says it's using about 36% sustainable energy, and it's started replacing its trucks with less-polluting alternatives such as hydrogen-powered vehicles.

As for food waste, the retail giant is making strides there, too. According to Walmart, as of 2020, it has diverted over 80% of waste from landfills and incineration globally, and it has donated 627 million pounds of food in the U.S.

Bottom line: Walmart has removed a big obstacle to food recycling, enabling tons of food to be reclaimed. This sets a clear example for other companies that are ready to transform their food waste footprint into outcomes like compost and biofuel.

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