Divert Breaks Ground on Lexington, North Carolina Facility to Accelerate the Circular Economy

April 30, 2025 at 11:00 AM EDT

New facility demonstrates Divert’s growing momentum nationwide, addresses critical need for infrastructure to reduce wasted food in the southeast U.S.

Stop Food Waste Day—Divert, Inc., a circular economy company on a mission to prevent food from being wasted, announced today the groundbreaking of its Integrated Diversion & Energy Facility in Lexington, North Carolina, addressing a critical need for infrastructure to combat the wasted food crisis in the southeast U.S.

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Divert's Integrated Diversion & Energy Facility in Lexington, North Carolina will address a critical need for infrastructure to combat the wasted food crisis in the southeast U.S.

“It is fitting that today’s groundbreaking falls on Stop Food Waste Day, as we continue to scale our infrastructure to advance a circular food system nationwide—and now in North Carolina,” said Ryan Begin, CEO and co-founder, Divert. “We know that this community shares our vision for advancing sustainability and circularity, and we welcome the opportunity to bring significant social, environmental, and economic benefits to the region.”

North Carolina generates more than 2.6 million tons of wasted food in a year. Yet nearly 1.5 million North Carolinians are food insecure. Divert is tackling this problem nationwide and now striving to bridge this gap in the southeast U.S.—converting unsold food products into carbon-negative renewable energy, and soil amendment.

“Food waste is a daunting challenge, and Divert’s innovative new facility will drive down food waste, convert it to renewable energy and soil enhancements, and create jobs. That’s a win-win-win for North Carolina,” said NCDEQ Secretary Reid Wilson.

With the development of its Integrated Diversion & Energy Facilities, Divert now provides an end-to-end solution that prevents wasted food, facilitates edible food recovery to feed people in need, and transforms unsold food products into beneficial products. In doing so, Divert is recouping the value in unsold food by producing renewable energy, preventing it from going to landfill and creating harmful methane emissions, while also returning the nutrients in food back to the earth to support further food growth—advancing a circular food system.

“This groundbreaking marks the beginning of something truly meaningful,” said Jason Brown, former National Football League lineman and founder of First Fruits Farm in Louisburg, North Carolina. “Divert is creating a pathway for sustainable change that supports farmers and strengthens our fight against hunger in North Carolina. I’m honored to stand with them in this mission.”

Nuveen Energy Infrastructure Credit, a part of the $1.3 trillion asset manager of TIAA, has invested more than $90 million to fund the development of the Lexington facility.

“Divert’s remarkable trajectory and strong operational track record exemplify the kind of impact-driven innovation that Nuveen Energy Infrastructure Credit is proud to support—tackling critical global issues like wasted food while advancing sustainable solutions,” said Julie Findlay, Managing Director, Nuveen Energy Infrastructure Credit. “The groundbreaking today marks another important milestone for Divert, and we look forward to supporting its continued growth as the company drives meaningful, scalable change for the industry.”

The facility will employ around 60 individuals and have the capacity to process 100,000 tons of unsold food products a year from food retailers, warehouses, distribution centers, and manufacturing locations.

“Harris Teeter is proud to support Divert and its transformative approach to preventing wasted food,” said Danna Robinson, Director of Corporate Affairs & Customer Relations for Harris Teeter. “Through Divert’s innovative technology, Harris Teeter has removed more than 40 million pounds of food and packaging from the waste stream in the last year. This effort creates more sustainable practices in the food supply chain and allows Harris Teeter to live its purpose: Enriching Lives – one meal, one family, one associate and one community at a time.”

“We are thrilled that Divert is bringing its innovative approach to clean energy to Lexington,” said Jason Hayes, Mayor of Lexington. “Divert’s investment in our community solidifies Lexington’s place as a prime location for sustainable, successful businesses, and we welcome the widespread positive economic impact through the creation of new job opportunities for our community.”

The Lexington facility builds on Divert’s growing momentum nationwide, with the company having opened its first Integrated Diversion & Energy Facility in Turlock, California in 2024. Divert plans to scale to 30 facilities across the country, including in Washington and Ohio.

For more information on Divert, please visit www.divertinc.com.

About Divert

Divert is a circular economy company on a mission to prevent food from being wasted through nationwide infrastructure and innovative technologies. Founded in 2007, the company provides an end-to-end solution that leverages data to prevent waste, facilitates edible food recovery to provide to people in need, and transforms unsold food products into renewable energy to power communities. Through this integrated approach to reducing wasted food–Prevent, Provide, Power™–Divert works with customers across the U.S. to reduce wasted food and positively impact people and the environment. Divert is a portfolio company of Ara Partners, a global private equity firm that is decarbonizing the industrial economy. For more information on Divert, Inc., please visit www.divertinc.com and follow the company on LinkedIn, X, Threads, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

About Ara Partners

Ara Partners is a global private equity and infrastructure investment firm focused on industrial decarbonization. Founded in 2017, Ara Partners seeks to build and scale companies with significant decarbonization impact across the industrial and manufacturing, chemicals and materials, energy efficiency and green fuels, and food and agriculture sectors. The company operates from offices in Houston, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Dublin. Ara Partners closed its third private equity fund in December 2023 with over $2.8 billion in capital commitments. As of December 31, 2024, Ara Partners had approximately $6.2 billion of assets under management. For more information about Ara Partners, please visit www.arapartners.com.