Walmart has partnered with Denali, a specialty waste and environmental services company, to implement a comprehensive food waste recycling programme across all its U.S. locations. This initiative aims to divert non-edible food from landfills, instead repurposing it to create compost, feed animals, and generate renewable energy.4 The programme demonstrates a successful circular economy model in the retail sector, addressing the critical issue of food waste whilst creating valuable resources.

Walmart, like many large retailers, generates significant amounts of food waste in its operations. The company set ambitious goals to reduce operational food waste by 50% by 2030 and achieve zero waste to landfills and incineration in its Canada, Mexico, and U.S. markets by 2025. As of 2022, Walmart had achieved approximately a 12% reduction in food waste and diverted 78% of its waste materials in U.S. operations.4 However, further action was needed to meet these targets and address the environmental impact of food waste.

Walmart renewed its partnership with Denali to implement a comprehensive food waste recycling programme. The solution involves collecting non-edible food from all Walmart locations in the United States and transforming it into valuable resources. Denali, which recycles over 10 billion pounds of organic materials annually, employs various methods to repurpose the food waste:

Composting: Working with a network of compost manufacturers, including its own facilities, to turn food waste into nutrient-rich compost.

Animal feed: Collaborating with local farms to use certain types of food waste as animal feed.

Renewable energy: Providing food waste to anaerobic digesters for the creation of renewable energy.4

The process begins when Walmart store associates remove unsold food items from shelves and place them, packaging and all, into designated bins. These bins are then collected by Walmart's logistics infrastructure and transported to processing facilities. At these facilities, advanced technology called Zero DePack is used to separate food waste from packaging. The resulting organic "sludge" is mixed with other organic materials like trimmed vegetation from Walmart properties. This mixture undergoes a curing process, involving repeated turning and filtering, to produce fine compost suitable for agricultural use.10

Additionally, Walmart has taken the circular economy concept a step further by selling the compost produced from its food waste. Under the brand name "ReCirculate", this compost is now available for purchase at over 100 Walmart locations across eight southern states, with plans to expand to more than 600 stores nationwide by April 2025. This innovative approach not only diverts waste from landfills but also creates a new product line, demonstrating the economic viability of circular business models.7

The impact of this food waste recycling programme is substantial. The greenhouse gas mitigation effect of Denali's efforts is annually equivalent to removing about 100,000 cars from the road or providing electricity to over 60,000 homes for a year.4 This initiative not only helps Walmart progress towards its sustainability goals but also contributes significantly to reducing the environmental impact of food waste.