06/30/2023

Divert Has Processed 1B Pounds of Wasted Food Since 2021

Company poised to accelerate its meaningful impact on crisis

Managing Editor

More than 126 billion pounds of food is wasted annually, contributing up to 10% of greenhouse-gas emissions worldwide.

Impact technology company Divert Inc. revealed that it has processed more than 1 billion pounds of wasted food since 2021, mitigating about 80,000 metric tons of greenhouse-gas emissions (GHG). This is the equivalent of eliminating almost 18,000 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles on the road a year or providing 15,000-plus homes’ electricity use for a year. More than 126 billion pounds of food is wasted annually, contributing up to 10% of GHG emissions worldwide.

Divert aims to significantly accelerate its meaningful impact on this crisis through advanced technologies, logistics and sustainable infrastructure. The company currently manages about 0.5% of all wasted food nationwide, but in the next eight years, it plans to expand to 30 facilities within 100 miles of 80% of the U.S. population and be able to process 5% of wasted food in the United States. This expansion would allow Divert to process 6 billion pounds of wasted food annually by 2031.

“In Divert’s 16-year history, our priority has always been to prevent wasted food and drive positive environmental impact that preserves our world for future generations,” said Ryan Begin, CEO and co-founder of West Concord, Mass.-based Divert. “We want to celebrate reaching this milestone of 1 billion pounds in such a short amount of time, while recognizing that we still have important work ahead of us as an industry to accelerate that impact. Through our continued collaboration with our customers and our plans for rapid yet responsible infrastructure development over the next decade, Divert is truly poised to make a significant contribution to tackling this crisis.”

“Divert has been integral in helping to divert food waste going to landfills across our retail locations and enabling us to make meaningful progress on our Recipe for Change goals,” noted Suzanne Long, chief sustainability and transformation officer at Albertsons Cos. “This industry-leading milestone is a testament to the impactful solutions Divert has pioneered to address the issue of food waste, and the responsibility and opportunity we have as an industry to prioritize sustainability and mitigate our climate impact.”

This milestone comes at a time of rapid growth for Divert. The company has grown its employee headcount by more than 33% in the past year; recently broke ground on its state-of-the-art integrated diversion and energy facility in Turlock, Calif.; and secured a $1 billion infrastructure agreement with Calgary, Alberta-based Enbridge Inc., alongside $100 million in growth equity led by Ara Partners to develop additional anaerobic digestion facilities across the United States.

Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons operates more than 2,200 retail stores in 34 states. The company is No. 9 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named the company as one of its Retailers of the Century.