Mill Industries and Tacoma, Washington, announce residential food waste pilot

The city of Tacoma, Washington, and Mill Industries Inc., a San Bruno, California-based waste prevention service provider, has announced what they call a first-of-its-kind agreement to pilot a new strategy for using technology to address residential food waste.  

Mill is providing Tacoma residents with prioritized access to the Mill Membership, a new system that takes the food residents don't eat at home, conserves the nutrients and creates a new pathway to send it back to farms as a feed ingredient for chickens. Residents will be responsible for Mill Membership subscription costs and can save money by downsizing the volume of their trash bin at the curb.  

The company says every Tacoma resident who becomes a Mill member will receive a new type of kitchen bin that dries, shrinks and deodorizes kitchen scraps overnight, turning them into nutrient-rich food grounds. The company says this process is different from composting retains the contents as food.   

Once the Mill kitchen bin is full, which the company says takes a few weeks, residents schedule a pickup in the Mill app to send the food grounds back to Mill. Mill then processes the grounds into a safe and nutritious chicken feed ingredient.  

Tacoma operates under a pay-as-you-throw waste structure. This new pilot offers residential customers an opportunity to reevaluate and reduce the volume of their waste service as they shift food from curbside collection containers to their Mill kitchen bin. By opting to downsize their garbage container, residents can save up to $25.60 per month on their waste bill.   

"Dealing with kitchen scraps can be a pain at home and costly for the planet, [meaning] endless trips to the trash, dripping garbage bags and the loss of all the resources that went into growing and transporting the food in the first place," says Alyssa Pollack, head of business at Mill. "Washington has shown tremendous leadership in preventing food waste through efforts such as HB 1799, and we're excited to team up with Tacoma to provide a better kitchen experience for residents, increase participation in organics recycling and source separation at home and prevent food waste from existing in the first place."  

Household food waste is the single largest source of food in landfills and one of the most difficult categories to measure. With this first-of-its-kind pilot, Tacoma will gain access to new data on residential food waste that can help inform food waste reduction programs and mark progress against sustainability goals. Based on a preliminary study, Mill estimates that members who use Mill, instead of throwing food in the trash, can avoid up to a net half-ton of carbon dioxide emissions per household annually.  

The Mill Membership is managed and administered solely by Mill. Participants will work directly with Mill to sign up and pay for the subscription service, which costs $33 a month and includes the kitchen device, postage for shipping, an app and technical support. As part of Mill's investment in the Tacoma community, Mill will make a per-member contribution to an organization focused on food insecurity serving the Tacoma residents.