Food waste is a serious problem in grocery stores around the world. While retailers can take steps to minimize it, it’s almost inevitable that some food will spoil on shelves – and when that happens, it’s important to have a climate-friendly plan to deal with it.

A new collaboration between Walmart and biomaterials recycler Denali promises to streamline the food recycling process at the country’s largest retailer, benefitting both customers and employees.

What happens?

In the past, recycling food meant that Walmart employees often had to go through the process of “unpacking” – that is, manually removing the food from its plastic or cardboard packaging.

But now, through Walmart’s partnership with Denali, over 1,400 Walmart and Sam’s Club stores will be equipped with sealed food waste bins. Instead of unpacking groceries, 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 automatically remove up to 97% of the packaging. Depending on what exactly is thrown away, Denali can process the remaining food into the following products:

🍃 Compost

🐮 Animal feed

✈️ or even biofuel

You can watch a video of the entire process here.

Why is the new Walmart x Denali initiative important?

According to ReFED, a national nonprofit dedicated to combating food waste, the United States generated over 77 million tons of food waste in 2022 alone. When this discarded food ends up in landfills, it decomposes and produces methane, a heat-trapping gas that overheats the planet.

Walmart is committed to avoiding this by donating or recycling as much food as possible to minimize waste (the goal is to produce zero operational waste by 2025). And working with Denali opens a clear path to more efficient recycling, now that every item no longer needs to be unpacked by hand.

After being sent to Denali, discarded food can Good instead of DamageExpired or damaged produce, dry goods, bakery and deli waste, and more can now help grow more food so the resources needed to produce it aren’t wasted. Or these unpackaged products can even be converted into heat and electricity.

“When integrated for our employees, innovations like Zero Depack (the partnership between Walmart and Denali) make the more sustainable action the default,” wrote RJ Zanes, Walmart’s vice president of facility services, in the recent announcement.

What is Walmart’s overall sustainability plan?

Walmart has launched several green initiatives in recent years to specifically achieve two of its overarching sustainability goals: using 100% renewable energy by 2035 and eliminating vehicle emissions by 2040.

The company currently says it uses around 36 percent renewable energy and has begun replacing its trucks with more environmentally friendly alternatives such as hydrogen-powered vehicles.

The retail giant is also making progress when it comes to food waste. According to Walmart, by 2020 the company had diverted over 80% of waste from landfills and incinerators worldwide and donated 627 million pounds of food in the United States.

Conclusion: Walmart has removed a major barrier to food recycling and is allowing tons of food to be reused. This is a clear example for other companies willing to turn their food waste footprint into products like compost and biofuel.

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