As a sales executive at a large uniform supply company years ago, Gary Schuler was appalled by the amount of returned clothing that was sent to landfills. “I have always had a strong aversion to waste of any kind,” Schuler says. He initiated a successful program to remove logos and donate the returned clothing to impoverished areas. But his concern—and his desire to do something about waste—didn’t stop there.
“As I continued to learn about waste management, it became clear that the largest waste problem lay within the food industry,” adds Schuler, now the founder and president of GTF Technologies, an Ada, Michigan-based company that provides solutions for the stabilization and upcycling of unused plant-based materials. “Every year more than 88 million tons of surplus food is generated across all sectors of the food system; in the food production and processing sector, over 90 percent of surplus food is comprised of byproducts and production line waste.”
Most of that waste is edible and often more nutritious than the food or juice being produced, Schuler says. And that doesn’t sit right with him. Below, he describes what his company is doing to reclaim and reuse it.
What kind of strain does responsible food waste disposal place on companies?
Food waste is becoming a ticking time bomb for food and beverage producers. The majority of industrial food waste is donated or sold for livestock feed, but that is becoming more difficult for a variety of reasons, including the shrinking number and size of dairy and beef cattle farms that have traditionally accepted food waste, increasing regulations on greenhouse gas emissions associated with transporting this waste, and escalating transportation and other costs that are squeezing food producers’ profitability. Landfilling food waste is not an option either. If food is landfilled and covered with more trash, it undergoes an anaerobic process in which it doesn’t decompose properly and instead produces methane gas, a greenhouse gas 80 times more harmful than carbon dioxide. Methane, of course, is also produced by the cattle that eat food waste.
What sectors face the biggest challenge?
The brewing industry is a good example. Every six pack of beer produces one pound of brewer's spent grain (BSG), which is considered a waste product. One major brewer we work with produces 4.5 million pounds of brewer's spent grain every week, and it’s struggling with sustainable and affordable solutions for its disposal.
How does GTF help companies rescue and reclaim side streams?
Many side streams are composed of the most nutritious part of the fruit or vegetable, such as peels, pomace, and seeds. GTF has developed the RENU™ Drying & Milling System, a 2-in-1 technology that simultaneously extracts moisture and micronizes virtually any organic material, transforming it into high-quality powder in mere seconds. Traditional drying methods have not been able to efficiently process side streams because they are time-, labor-, and energy-intensive, with some using copious amounts of natural gas to operate. The RENU system’s speed and moderate operating temperatures enable it to capture virtually all the nutrients in valuable side streams quickly and easily, reclaiming them to be utilized in numerous other applications. Powders made from side-streamed produce are free of chemicals and additives and can be reintegrated into the manufacturer’s own products—thereby saving on raw materials—or sold for use as ingredients in other foods and beverages, spices, pet foods, bioplastics, and eco-friendly packaging.
Can you provide an example of how RENU has helped creatively solve the problem of industrial food waste?
In the brewing example mentioned above, where the brewery is running out of sustainable and affordable options for disposing of its brewer's spent grain (BSG), we were able to help them shift their mindset and view BSG not as a waste product but as an asset. BSG has many desirable qualities that make it a great component in multiple industries. It is extremely high in fiber, protein, and phenolic compounds, low in carbohydrates, and nearly gluten free. This combination makes it a healthy upcycled ingredient for cereals, breads, pastries, pastas, and pet foods and for everything from cutlery to packaging. By powderizing their BSG with our RENU system and using the powder to produce eco-friendly shrink-wrap, this brewing company expects to avoid 13 million tons of greenhouse gasses weekly, increase their annual revenue by 700 percent, and realize full ROI in under two years. As more systems are installed to accommodate higher production volumes, the cost reduction, environmental impact, and income generated will be exponential.
Learn more about GTF Technologies and its RENU™ Drying & Milling System here.