The Washington Post highlights Baldor Specialty Foods’ organic waste program. Baldor Specialty Foods started putting produce scraps to use rather than discarding them. The sparcs program at Baldor focuses on changing the narrative around excess food and the byproducts we do not usually use.  Sparcs, which is scraps spelled backwards, includes foods such as carrot tops, strawberry tops, and mango pits.

Thomas McQuillan, sustainability director for Baldor, helped connect the facility to other reuse alternatives for their sparcs. The alternatives include Misfit Juicery and Haven’s Kitchen, which repurpose the edible sparcs into juices, sauces, and soups. In addition to selling the sparcs for human consumption, Baldor sends other sparcs for animal feed, such as Brick Farm Market in Hopewell, New Jersey. Baldor is also handling excess sparcs on-site, including dehydrating the edible sparcs into a dried vegetable blend, similar to bouillon, and processing the inedible sparcs in a “waste to water” system.

Not only are the diverted food scraps better for the environment, it also benefits the business. McQuillan explains how the bottom line benefits, from selling the sparcs and saving the money by not discarding them.

RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts assists businesses and institutions with recycling and food waste reduction through composting and food donation. To speak to a recycling expert, call our hotline: (888) 254-5525 or email us at info@recyclingworksma.com.