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Divert, Inc. Celebrates Milestone with Turlock, California Facility Opening, Solidifying its Leadership Against the Wasted Food Crisis

Facility is the first-of-its-kind for the state and marks significant momentum in the company’s robust expansion roadmap to scale to 30 facilities across the U.S.

Divert, Inc. Celebrates Milestone with Turlock, California Facility Opening, Solidifying its Leadership Against the Wasted Food Crisis

Divert Media
Caroline Legg
Director of Public Relations
(203) 313-4228
clegg@divertinc.com

Divert, Inc., a sustainable solutions company committed to solving the wasted food crisis and advancing a circular economy, today announced the opening of its Integrated Diversion & Energy Facility in Turlock, California, the first-of-its-kind for the state in accelerating progress against the wasted food crisis. The new facility marks a significant milestone in the company’s robust expansion roadmap to scale its sustainable infrastructure solutions to 30 facilities across the U.S. by 2031.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241204322000/en/

(Photo: Business Wire)

(Photo: Business Wire)

Divert’s facility advances a circular economy through an end-to-end solution that prevents wasted food, facilitates edible food recovery to provide to people in need, and transforms unsold food products into carbon-negative renewable energy to power local homes and businesses. Equipped to offset up to 23,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year, the equivalent to taking nearly 5,000 gas-powered cars off the road, the facility will bring California closer to reaching its net-zero carbon pollution goals by 2045.

“The opening of our Turlock facility is a landmark moment for Divert in accelerating our progress against the wasted food crisis and addressing climate change to benefit both people and our planet,” said Ryan Begin, CEO and co-founder, Divert. “For 17 years, Divert has been at the forefront of driving a positive impact against this social and environmental crisis, working hand-in-hand with our customers and partners. Our new Turlock facility is an important milestone as we continue to lead the industry, and we are well positioned as we rapidly scale our solutions nationwide to serve more businesses and consumers.”

The facility leverages Divert’s proprietary depackaging solution and anaerobic digestion to process 100,000 tons of unsold food products each year into two beneficial byproducts: renewable energy and a soil amendment that allows for the nutrients to return to farmland, supporting further food growth. In doing so, Divert prevents these unsold food products from reaching the landfill, thereby eliminating harmful methane emissions that contribute to climate change.

In a first-of-its-kind interconnection for Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) in California, the processed renewable natural gas (RNG) is being injected into PG&E’s natural gas transmission line. Nearly 225,000 MMBtu of Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) will be delivered into PG&E's system annually.

“PG&E remains committed to achieving a clean, decarbonized net-zero energy system by 2040, and the opportunity to collaborate with innovators and changemakers like Divert is essential to achieving this goal,” said Austin Hastings, Vice President, PG&E Gas Engineering. “We are excited to work with Divert to increase the volume of clean, California-produced, renewable natural gas flowing through PG&E’s pipeline system.”

Divert works with some of the largest food retailers in the U.S., including Ahold Delhaize, CVS, Kroger, Albertsons, Target, and others, to prevent wasted food and facilitate edible food recovery to feed people in need.

“We’re proud to partner with Divert in our efforts to prevent food waste and increase food recovery in our stores,” said Karl Schroeder, Division President of Safeway Northern California. “Our partnership allows us to better serve our customers by reducing waste, supporting local food banks, and providing more opportunities to help our neighbors in need access fresh, nutritious food.”

In addition to retailers, the facility will also help California food manufacturers, distributors, food service operators, and other industrial companies comply with organic waste requirements in accordance with the state’s Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383) regarding organic waste reduction. This legislation requires large waste generators to redirect food waste from landfills through waste prevention or donations, and encourages the use of anaerobic digestion to create renewable energy.

“Keeping food scraps and other organic material from creating methane in landfills is critical to California’s climate fight,” said Zoe Heller, Director, CalRecycle. “When California reaches its organics recycling and food recovery targets, we will cut three million cars worth of climate pollution each year and move our state closer to the waste-free future that our children deserve.”

“The City of Turlock is proud to celebrate the opening of Divert’s new facility, which is already delivering on the promise to create new jobs and drive economic growth for our community,” said Amy Bublak, Mayor of Turlock. “Our city has been a longtime supporter of Divert and this project, which builds on Turlock’s existing agricultural and manufacturing strengths, solidifies our appeal as a place where you can live, work and raise your family. The future is bright for Divert in Turlock, and we look forward to continuing to work together to support the company’s progress against the wasted food crisis in California.”

To learn more about Divert and the Turlock facility, please click here.

About Divert, Inc.

Divert is a sustainable solutions company committed to solving the wasted food crisis and advancing a circular economy 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™ – the company works with nearly 8,000 customer locations across the U.S. to reduce wasted food and positively impact people and the environment. Its customer base spans industries and includes five Fortune 100 companies. For more information on Divert, Inc., please visit www.divertinc.com and follow the company on LinkedIn, X, Threads, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.