In a step toward building a circular economy in northern California, Divert Inc. and General Produce have partnered to transform unsalable food waste into renewable energy and soil amendments.
This collaboration focuses on General Produce’s Sacramento-area distribution center, where the company aggregates harvested commodities from local growers for warehousing and distribution throughout the region.
The partnership targets organic materials that cannot be sold or donated, such as finished goods that are fully packaged and palletized but have reached expiration and bulk binned materials such as damaged pumpkins or bruised produce. By redirecting this material to Divert’s Integrated Diversion abd Energy Facility in Turlock, Calif., General Produce ensures even damaged or recalled goods are repurposed rather than sent to a landfill.
The Science of Transformation
The process at the Turlock facility follows a specialized multistep system designed for maximum efficiency. Andrew Johnston, vice president and general manager of industrials for Divert, says that the facility operates along these process steps:
- Collection and transport: Divert loads pallets of finished goods and bulk bins of produce such as damaged pumpkins or bruised fruit, onto trailers at the General Produce facility
- Identification and weighing: Upon arrival at the Turlock facility, every pallet and bin is inspected to identify the specific commodity (e.g., cabbage, berries or leafy greens) and weighed to record its packaging level and mass
- Mechanical depackaging: The materials run through a specialized system that gently separates any plastic, cardboard or branded packaging from the organic food matter
- Anaerobic digestion: The clean organics flow into a closed “stomach” where helpful bacteria break down the material to create biogas
- Refining and extraction: The biogas is cleaned to become renewable natural gas, while a centrifuge separates the remaining solids to be repurposed as soil amendment
Beyond the physical processing of waste, a critical component of the partnership is the “visibility into the data,” Johnston says. Divert tracks the type, packaging level and weight of every pallet and bin received. This granular reporting allows General Produce to monitor CO2 reductions and identify specific inefficiencies within their supply chain.
“The visibility into the data is a huge piece of this,” Johnston says, adding that this information supports internal sustainability initiatives and mandatory reporting. This data-centric approach is vital for meeting the requirements of California’s Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383), which mandates the diversion of organic waste from landfills to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“Together with Divert, we’re keeping organic waste out of landfills, transforming what can’t be donated into renewable energy and continuing to drive meaningful change across our industry,” says Brian Hamilton, director of operations for General Produce.
As Divert continues to expand its Industrials Group, Johnston says their mandate now spans the entire food value chain, “which starts at the farm.” This includes everything from domestic logistics and marine terminals to food processing and distribution.
“Our partnership with General Produce builds on the work we are doing across California to eliminate wasted food in the state and reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the food value chain,” Johnston says. By securing the destruction of recalled or unsalable goods while generating carbon-negative energy, the collaboration exemplifies a “smarter, cleaner and more responsible supply chain.”
