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Fast Company
7 days ago
- Business
- Fast Company
Banana peel coasters? Michigan is turning food waste into something useful
Inside the historic Book Depository at Michigan Central, now home to Newlab's innovation campus, Brittanie Dabney is quietly building a different kind of startup. Her company, EcoSphere Organics, doesn't make apps or mobility tech. It makes biodegradable coasters out of banana peels. Dabney and her team collect food scraps from local restaurants like Alchemy and Johnny's Speakeasy—coffee grounds, citrus rinds, and eggshells—and process them into small-batch products like compostable packaging and plant-based leather alternatives. Using dehydration and fermentation, Dabney aims to create materials that are both functional and regenerative. 'I want the vision of our process and manufacturing to be sustainable,' Dabney says. 'No harsh chemicals, not water-intensive.' EcoSphere is still in early development, operating with grant funding and limited access to production space. 'Once we're able to get warehouse space, then we'll be able to take on more,' she says. The company is part of a growing movement in Michigan to look beyond composting. With 745,000 tons of food waste landfilled in Michigan every year, they're exploring alternatives: upcycling, food rescue, apps, and decentralized infrastructure that can transform waste into something more useful. EPA data identifies more than 10,000 food service establishments across Michigan generating significant amounts of food waste, with an estimated total of over 167,000 tons per day. These range from school cafeterias and restaurants to correctional facilities and healthcare institutions, each with unique waste patterns and constraints. The most frequently listed facility type is full-service restaurants, which account for more than 5,000 sites in the data set. Other common sources include cafeterias, limited-service restaurants, and food service contractors. Wayne County alone accounts for the most food waste, with more than 177,0000 pounds of average daily waste across facilities, followed by Genesee, Kent, Macomb, and Oakland counties. This diversity underscores the need for flexible, localized strategies—technologies and programs that can intervene at grocery stores, restaurants, institutions, and beyond. The innovations emerging in Michigan represent promising steps, but broader adoption and investment will be necessary to meaningfully reduce food waste statewide. Flashfood app: Where retail tech meets waste reduction While startups like EcoSphere are experimenting with banana peels and coffee grounds, larger players are tackling food waste at the point of sale. In Michigan, one of the most visible interventions comes from Flashfood, a mobile app that lets shoppers buy groceries nearing their sell-by date at a discount—and from Meijer, the first U.S. retailer to partner with the platform. 'Meijer was actually our first U.S. customer,' says Esther Cohn, a spokesperson for Canada-based Flashfood. 'Michigan was a natural next step because we already had a strong user base and Meijer's scale gave us a way to grow quickly.' The model is straightforward: store staff scan soon-to-expire items—meat, dairy, produce—into the app, offering them at steep discounts. Customers place orders on their phones and pick them up from coolers near the store entrance. The goal is to keep food out of landfills and into shopping carts. 'From a grocer's perspective, you're making money back on items you used to throw away,' Cohn says. 'You're reducing shrink and avoiding disposal costs.' Shrink refers to inventory loss from damage and spoilage. As of late 2023, Meijer customers had diverted more than 10 million pounds of food waste from landfills using the app, according to the company's corporate impact report. The program began in 2021. Meijer also became the first U.S. retailer to accept SNAP/EBT payments through Flashfood, expanding access to lower-cost groceries. But the program requires infrastructure that many smaller grocers don't have: digital inventory systems, trained staff, and coordinated logistics. Even at Meijer, implementation takes planning. 'We're looking at multiple tools to address food waste,' says Erik Petrovskis, Meijer's director of environmental compliance and sustainability. 'That includes reducing waste at the source, diverting what we can, and making sure as little as possible ends up in a landfill.' Volunteer-powered logistics: Food Rescue US in Michigan In a parking lot outside a Whole Foods store in Midtown Detroit, Janet Damian loads trays of bread, cut-up sweet potatoes, some pies, and pineapple into the back of her Ford Flex. This isn't a city-run program. It's one of more than 500 monthly rescues coordinated by Food Rescue US-Detroit, a tech-enabled nonprofit that redirects surplus food from stores and restaurants to food pantries, shelters, and fridges across Southeast Michigan. 'We rescue any type of food—fresh, frozen, prepared, nonperishable,' says Darraugh Collins, who runs the organization's Michigan operations. 'Sometimes it's a whole carload. Sometimes it's just a few bags.' The model relies on a lightweight infrastructure: a mobile app, a flexible network of 80 to 100 active volunteers, and over 144 food donor partners, including Target, Whole Foods, Plum Market, and LinkedIn. In 2024, the Detroit program alone rescued about 700,000 pounds of food, delivering it to more than 147 recipient agencies—many of them in the city, even though most food comes from outside its limits. One of those volunteers is Janet Damian, a retired medical administrator who lives in Dearborn and picks up food weekly from Whole Foods and other locations. 'We're reducing food waste by distributing it to people who need it,' she says. 'It's satisfying because the need is real—and the appreciation is real.' Her favorite moment? Delivering 30 birthday cakes from Whole Foods to the Wayne State student pantry. 'Their eyes lit up,' she says. 'It was like a party. It doesn't matter what you bring, they're just happy someone's thinking about them.' That joy is familiar to Kenya Maxey, who oversees the Wayne State pantry, which also includes a thrift shop. 'We've seen over 6,700 students in the last 12 weeks,' she says. 'The numbers started climbing in January.' Maxey said the donations from Food Rescue US make their limited budget stretch further, and offer students a moment of normalcy. 'They get to shop like they're in a grocery store,' she says. 'And that helps them feel like themselves.' Despite its reach, the model has limits. 'We're at capacity with the volunteers we have,' Collins says. 'We need more funding, more drivers and ideally some paid positions to help us coordinate. The need is only growing.'
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Newlab to open innovation lab in New Orleans, aiming to boost energy and tech sectors
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — State officials announced that global venture platform Newlab will open its newest innovation lab in New Orleans, describing the project as a model for statewide economic and technological development. 'I want this project today to serve as that blueprint across the state so we can do more of these,' Josh Fleig said during a press conference at the Capitol. Newlab New Orleans will be housed at the historic Naval Support Activity site and will provide industrial-scale space and specialized equipment to support technology startups. The facility will partner with government, industry, and academic institutions to create a network of test sites and regulatory sandboxes aimed at driving innovation and economic growth across Louisiana. 'People here are making bold moves to ensure Louisiana continues to lead the nation—and the world—in energy production, resilience, and ultimately, it's about its people,' David Belt with Newlab said. Officials said the innovations developed at the hub will not only power homes and the fuel industry but also help retain graduates, grow local companies, and secure a more sustainable and inclusive economy. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell called the project a 'force multiplier' for both the city and the state. 'I'm so proud to be a part of it,' Cantrell said, praising project partner Shell for its continued investment in Louisiana. She recalled Shell's major role in supporting the city after Hurricane Katrina through the Clinton Global Initiative and said the company's commitment has remained strong. 'To be here today—Shell again unwavering—in investing in people, investing in New Orleans, investing in the state of Louisiana,' she said. Newlab began its work in the state last year through two clean energy programs backed by the U.S. Department of Energy. The company plans to continue investing in the region through its new lab. Newlab to open innovation lab in New Orleans, aiming to boost energy and tech sectors Man arrested in connection to 2014 Baton Rouge shooting, killing 7-year-old boy Dad's Day at the Capitol highlights importance of father figures Episcopal Church halts refugee partnership with feds over white South Africans Senate GOP weighs safety, legal concerns over Trump Qatar jet gift Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Energy-focused innovation hub coming to New Orleans' Bywater neighborhood
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — A new innovation hub is coming to New Orleans' Bywater neighborhood. According to Louisiana Economic Development, venture platform Newlab's new hub will be built at the Naval Support Activity site on Poland Avenue. New Orleans 'Crawfish King' Al Scramuzza dies at age 97 LED officials said the facility will offer resources for other companies, especially those in the energy production space, with a focus on industrial power, carbon management and utilization and shipping and maritime. Newlab's expansion into New Orleans reportedly comes as part of a partnership with LED, the City of New Orleans, Future Use of Energy in Louisiana, Louisiana State University, Greater New Orleans Inc. and Shell. The story of the mysterious floating diamond clock at M.S. Rau Antiques in New Orleans Newlab New Orleans is set to include 'industrial scale-up spaces, outfitted with specialized equipment and capabilities, allowing startups to fabricate, assemble, and pre-commission demonstration-scale process units for in-field deployments.' According to LED, Newlab will work with government agencies and academic partners to build a network of demonstration sites and regulatory sandboxes in the powerboat race to be held in Jefferson Parish this summer New Orleans East shooting leaves man dead Mexico says migrant deaths have doubled since Trump took office Episcopal Church halts refugee partnership with feds over white South Africans Energy-focused innovation hub coming to New Orleans' Bywater neighborhood Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
