Circular Services provides food and beverage manufacturers, distributors, and retailers in Florida the ability to recycle damaged or out of date packaged food and beverage products at its new de-packaging facility in Vero Beach. The facility is a first-of-its-kind in the State, and the only commercial-scale de-packaging operation permitted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). With this facility, food and beverage manufacturers, distributors, and retailers in the State now have an economical and sustainable alternative to sending damaged or out of date food and beverage material to costly landfills and incinerators.
Florida is one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing manufacturing states, with food and beverage production among its largest sectors. Until now, businesses in Florida’s food and beverage industry have had no opportunity to avoid costly landfill disposal fees for damaged or out of date packaged food and beverage material. The new system in Vero Beach, which can process more than 600 tons of food and beverage material per week, separates the packaging for recycling and diverts the organic contents to Circular Services’ co-located composting site.
Circular Services is Florida’s largest composter and one of its largest recycling companies, with processing facilities in Greater Tampa, Sarasota, Lee County, Vero Beach, and Palm Beach County. Our organics recovery facilities process food and yard waste from homes and businesses throughout the State and produce high-quality compost, mulches, soils, and more for residential and commercial landscaping and growing.
“This expansion brings a much-needed comprehensive food waste recovery system to Florida,” said David Bahrenburg, Vice President of Organics at Circular Services. “With proper separation of the packaging from the organic material, the result is clean, nutrient-rich compost. That’s what the circular economy looks like in practice, and it’s the standard we hold ourselves to at every facility we operate.”
“In Vero Beach, we’ve built something that keeps both food waste and packaging materials where they belong — in circulation, not landfills — and gives Florida’s commercial generators the local partner they’ve needed to make that a reality,” said Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Operating Officer, Jessica Long.