Denali, the nation’s largest recycler of organic materials, has announced a significant partnership with Walmart to implement advanced depackaging services at over a thousand Walmart and Sam’s Club locations across the U.S. This innovative technology is designed to enhance the food waste recycling process, with early tests showing a 60% increase in reusable organic content recovery and a 12% reduction in compactor trash. The program has already launched in more than 1,400 locations in 16 markets, including Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Indianapolis, Phoenix, and several cities in New England, with plans to expand nationwide through 2025.
The depackaging technology efficiently separates food from packaging materials like plastic and cardboard, creating a cleaner stream of organic material that can be transformed into animal feed, compost, or energy via anaerobic digesters. This automated process eliminates the need for manual separation, making food waste recycling and reuse more efficient and freeing up time for store associates. Walmart is among the first retailers to deploy this technology on a large scale.
For Walmart, this initiative exemplifies its commitment to reducing operational waste and enhancing waste management practices in line with its sustainability goals.
“As a people-led, tech-powered retailer, Walmart is focused on driving innovations that build operational efficiency, improve store associates’ experience, and reduce waste,” said RJ Zanes, Walmart’s Vice President of Facility Services. “Denali’s depackaging technology enables us to convert millions of pounds of potential food waste into valuable products each year, while allowing our associates to focus more on serving our customers.”
Denali already provides depackaging services to thousands of grocers, food manufacturers, distributors, and municipalities, recycling food waste into compost, organic fertilizer, animal feed, and clean energy, thus preventing it from ending up in landfills. Denali’s facilities can separate up to 97% of trash from organic food waste, including expired products, recalled items, and food scraps.
“Denali’s depackaging technology is transforming how food manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and cities manage food waste,” said Ilia Kostov, Denali’s Chief Revenue Officer. “We are excited to partner with Walmart and Sam’s Club to scale our efforts and support a circular economy.”
The nationwide rollout began in Phoenix in 2023, where Denali successfully diverted 2,000 tons of food waste from Big Game-related events. Since then, Denali has continued to support local efforts to manage food waste more effectively.
BY THE NUMBERS
According to ReFED, the U.S. generated approximately 77.6 million tons of food waste in 2022, with 3.9% coming from retailers due to damaged or expired goods. Of this waste, 51% ended up in landfills, while 39.5% was composted or processed via anaerobic digestion. Denali’s network aims to significantly increase the proportion of food waste recycled through these methods.
Denali recycles over 1 billion pounds of food waste annually into useful products. With the new depackaging machines, Denali will process 1.5 million pounds of food waste daily, equating to an estimated 500 million pounds annually, in collaboration with retail and municipal partners.
As each retail location adopts the depackaging services, it is expected to divert around 200,000 pounds of food waste from landfills.
About Denali
Denali is the leading and largest organic recycling company dedicated to replenishing the Earth through waste repurposing. Their efforts are crucial for maintaining clean water, reducing landfill needs, enhancing soil fertility, supporting farmers, and decreasing reliance on fossil fuels. Denali’s services and products impact thousands of acres, numerous locales, and millions of tons of material across the U.S.
