Grind2Energy Celebrates 100 Million Pounds of Food Waste Diverted from Landfills and Converted into Renewable Energy

November 16, 2021 at 09:00 AM EST

Emerson’s innovative food waste recycling system reaches significant milestone as it tackles the growing global food waste challenge

Every year, 18.5 million tons of food scraps from grocery stores, food service facilities and other institutions end up in landfills. Emerson’s (NYSE: EMR) InSinkErator™ business helps colleges and universities, high-capacity stadiums and commercial facilities in a multitude of sizes keep food waste out of landfills through Grind2Energy™, its large-scale food waste recycling system. InSinkErator has reached a significant milestone in its ongoing mission to stop food waste from ending up in landfills. Recently, InSinkErator celebrated diverting 100 million pounds of food waste from landfills through Grind2Energy.

“Food waste is a significant issue in both residential and commercial kitchens,” said Joe Dillon, president of Emerson’s InSinkErator business. “Our Grind2Energy technology provides an innovative, more sustainable solution for commercial facilities everywhere and has the potential to make a global impact. We couldn’t be more excited to mark this anniversary, and look forward to the next 100 million pounds diverted as we do our part to address the growing food waste problem.”

Using powerful grinding technology from InSinkErator, the world’s largest manufacturer of residential garbage disposers, the Grind2Energy recycling system captures and processes food waste into energy-rich slurry, which is held safely in sealed tanks before it can be transported to nearby anaerobic digestors located at farms or at wastewater treatment facilities. Anaerobic digesters extract methane gas and convert energy rich slurries into renewable energy, and the remaining materials can be used to make nutrient-rich fertilizer. To date, the renewable energy created from the Grind2Energy energy rich slurry is enough to power more than 10,000 homes for one month; the amount of CO2 reduction by diverting waste to landfills is the equivalent of 83 million fewer automobile miles driven; and the potential amount of nutrient-rich fertilizer created is 5.7 million pounds.

Whole Foods Market, a global brand known for sustainability and an early adopter of the Grind2Energy system, said it plans to expand its use of the system. To date, Whole Foods has been a significant contributor to this milestone by diverting over 25 million pounds of unavoidable food waste from landfills through Grind2Energy.

“Since adopting Grind2Energy in 2014, we’ve been able to further accelerate our commitment to minimizing food waste in our stores and promoting environmental stewardship across the life cycle of food,” said Caitlin Leibert, vice president of sustainability at Whole Foods Market. “Converting unavoidable food waste into a renewable energy source is another way we live out our mission of Nourishing People and the Planet.”

For more information about Grind2Energy, please visit Emerson.com/Grind2Energy or Emerson.com.

About Emerson

Emerson (NYSE: EMR), headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), is a global technology and engineering company providing innovative solutions for customers in industrial, commercial and residential markets. Our Automation Solutions business helps process, hybrid and discrete manufacturers maximize production, protect personnel and the environment while optimizing their energy and operating costs. Our Commercial & Residential Solutions business helps ensure human comfort and health, protect food quality and safety, advance energy efficiency and create sustainable infrastructure. For more information visit Emerson.com.