Walmart, Denali Team on Recycling & Reuse Technology
Following pilots of the program in various markets over several years, Denali began rolling out its nationwide depackaging services last year in Phoenix, where 2,000 tons of food waste generated from Big Game-related events and activities were diverted from landfills. Since that time, Denali has helped Phoenix and local retailers process and lower the amount of food waste reaching landfills.
The depackaging machines will enable Denali to recycle 1.5 million pounds of food waste daily, for an estimated 500 million pounds of food waste turned into compost, fertilizer, animal feed and clean energy each year, in partnership with retail and municipality partners, based on 100 tons per store, according to Denali. The program’s city-by-city expansion aims to enable each individual business or retail location that starts using the depackaging services to be able to divert an estimated 200,000 pounds of food waste from landfills.
Each week, approximately 255 million customers and members visit Walmart’s more than 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites in 19 countries. With fiscal year 2024 revenue of $648 billion, the retailer employs approximately 2.1 million associates worldwide. Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart U.S. is No. 1 on Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named Walmart one of its Retailers of the Century. Sam’s Club, a division of Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart Inc., operates nearly 600 clubs in the United States and Puerto Rico and is No. 8 on The PG 100.