FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ocala, Fla. (April 4, 2025) -- Florida Crystals Corporation, headquartered in West Palm Beach, Fla. was honored with the prestigious Compost Manufacturer of the Year award for large-scale facilities during USCC’s recent annual awards ceremony in Raleigh, North Carolina. The award recognizes leaders, innovators and dedicated contributors to the advancement of composting, that set a benchmark for integrating composting practices within the agribusiness sector. Florida Crystals Corporation was nominated by peers and presented with the award during USCC’s annual conference.

“We are honored to be recognized by USCC for our highly-effective composting program that begins in the sugarcane fields, where our feedstock originates, which we then upcycle at our composting facility,” said Shiva Aherns, principal research scientist and an expert in soil biochemistry at Florida Crystals Corporation. “Our compost facility generates roughly 100,000 tons of organic compost annually, which we return to our farms to nourish our next crop in a sustainable closed-loop cycle.”

According to industry experts, about 25 percent of the national waste stream is organic material. “The concentration of effort on Florida’s composting has considerable potential to remove organics from the waste stream and out of landfills and incinerators that create some greenhouse gasses,” said Chris Snow, chair of the FLCC.

Florida Crystals Corporation is a member of the FLCC, a state chapter of the USCC. The FLCC is affiliated with Recycle Florida Today (RFT), the State’s leading recycling organization. For more company information about Florida Crystals visit www.floridacrystalscorp.com.

About US Composting Council® (USCC): The mission of USCC is to advance compost manufacturing, compost utilization, and organics recycling to benefit our members, society, and the environment. The USCC annually celebrates outstanding achievements in the composting industry. The Compost 2025 event highlighted the industry’s ongoing commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship. For more information go to www.compostingcouncil.org

About the Florida Composting Council (FLCC): The FLCC is organized exclusively to promote the composting industry and the reduction, reuse and recycling of the organic component of Florida’s waste stream through support of infrastructure development, quality control and ethical operations, operator training, legislative and regulatory advocacy, and general public education.

The FLCC was organized by a group of USCC members working in the consulting, non-profit, public education and legal fields. These members are working towards a more robust organics and food waste recycling industry in the state. Officially, FLCC became a chapter through the affiliation of Recycle Florida Today (RFT),Florida’s state recycling organization. For more information about FLCC visit www.floridacompostingcouncil.org.

About Florida Crystals Corporation: Florida Crystals Corporation is a fully integrated cane sugar company. Florida Crystals rotates sugarcane, rice and vegetables on 190,000 acres in Palm Beach County, Florida, where it also owns two sugar mills, a sugar refinery, a packaging and distribution center, Florida’s only rice mill, a compost facility and the largest renewable power plant of its kind in North America, which uses sugarcane fiber to generate eco-friendly energy that power sits sugar operations. Florida Crystals is Florida’s largest organic farmer and the only producer of Regenerative Organic Certified® (ROC®) sugar that is grown and milled in the United States, which is offered to consumers through the Florida Crystals® brand. Florida Crystals’ organic farm is also the largest ROC™ farm in the country. Its subsidiary, ASR Group, is the world’s largest cane sugar refining and marketing company. Learn more at www.FloridaCrystalsCorp.com.

About Recycle Florida Today: Recycle Florida Today, Inc. (RFT) is Florida’s state recycling organization and premier association educating recycling and environmental professionals throughout Florida from the public, private, non-profit, and institutional sectors. RFT was formed to be a driving force to help Florida professionals implement its recycling goals and objectives. RFT continues to provide educational and networking opportunities about recycling for all Floridians as well as support to local and state elected officials on laws and regulations affecting the recycling industry. RFT is the fiscal sponsor for the Florida Composting Council. For more information, visit https://recyclefloridatoday.org/.

For more information, visit https://floridacompostingcouncil.org/.

Notice to Members

FLCC Annual Composter Conference Update

The FLCC Board and Education Committee has decided that we need to build membership involvement in our Committees and continue our focus on quarterly Education Events in 2025, and not hold a formal 2025 FLCC Annual Conference. Attendance at the 2024 FLCC Annual Conference was not sufficient to warrant the expense and effort to hold a full day of speakers and presentations.

The FLCC will have a 90 minute Organics Recycling Session at the 2025 Recycle Florida Today Conference in Daytona Beach on June 24, 2025.  One day rates are available for FLCC members. We will be providing an update on the FLCC, hearing about the latest from FORCE and FDEP, as well other speakers on organics recycling.

We do want to still hold an Annual FLCC Members Meeting, but we will be doing it virtually on Zoom.  We will be providing the date and time in the near future.  We are also considering how to hold it in conjunction with regional happy hours to still provide an opportunity for FLCC members to get together regionally!  Let us know of your thoughts and interest in this idea!

Another important part of being a FLCC Membership is to consider being a Board Member and/or a Committee Member.  The nominating process is underway currently for the 3 Board Member positions that are coming to the end of their current term.  Please consider being a Board Member, and go to the link to provide your Board Nomination information.

The Education Committee has its next upcoming Quarterly Event at Sunshine Compost scheduled for May 8, 2025 in Jacksonville.  Register now for this great event including tours of Sunshine Compost and presentations on their USDA BioChar Grant project.  See the link for further information and to register - https://floridacompostingcouncil.org/events.  Please also consider being a Quarterly Event sponsor, and a member of the Education Committee!

Denali’s ReCirculate™ Compost Made from Food Waste, now Available at Walmart

Read the full article at the source -https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250127111406/en/Denali%E2%80%99s-ReCirculate%E2%84%A2-Compost-Made-from-Food-Waste-now-Available-at-Walmart

Made from unsalable foods that would otherwise go to landfills, ReCirculate available at Walmart stores across the Southern U.S., with nationwide availability by spring

January 27, 2025 08:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Denali, the nation’s leading recycler of organics, today announced that ReCirculate – its compost product made from unconsumed food sourced from thousands of grocery stores – is now available for purchase at over 100 Walmart locations across eight southern states. Packaged in one-cubic-foot bags, ReCirculate will be available in more than 600 Walmart stores nationwide by April, just in time for the height of the spring planting season.

“The ReCirculate product is a perfect example of Walmart's circular business models and how we make the most of our resources”

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Denali partners with retailers, like Walmart, to leverage its unsalable food with Denali’s innovative depackaging technology, separating organic food from its packaging and transforming it into a clean stream of materials that are then converted into useful products such as compost, soil, fertilizer and renewable energy. This process streamlines the depackaging process for retailers while keeping unsold food out of landfills.

"The ReCirculate product is a perfect example of Walmart's circular business models and how we make the most of our resources," said RJ Zanes, Walmart VP of Facility Services. "We're taking unsalable merchandise and repurposing it into a different product we can sell on our shelves – benefitting our business, our customers, and the planet."  

A share from David Hill. 

Press release from O-Town Compost

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – O-Town Compost is excited to announce the launch of its convenient, odor- and pest-free food waste collection service in Gainesville. As a Food Waste Collector registered with the City of Gainesville, O-Town Compost will offer commercial establishments and multi-family properties the service needed for them to comply with the City’s food waste ordinances passed in July 2022.

“Diverting food waste for composting instead of disposal in the landfill is a significant part of the City of Gainesville’s Zero Waste Initiative. Our mission is to reduce the amount of food waste going to the landfill and make nutrient-rich compost to support this community and its local food systems,” said Richard Devereaux, Gainesville General Manager of O-Town Compost.

O-Town Compost expects to begin distribution of its collection bins to its commercial establishment and multi-family property partners beginning October 1, 2024, with regular collection routes scheduled to commence immediately thereafter. The food waste that O-Town Compost collects will be transported to Gaston Mulch & Soil’s Gainesville composting site for processing into soil amendment.

Read the full article at the source:  https://alachuachronicle.com/o-town-compost-launches-food-waste-collection-service-in-gainesville/

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Sept. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Crystals, the first and only grower of Regenerative Organic Certified® (ROC™) sugarcane in the U.S., is proud to celebrate National Organic Month by highlighting its unique commitment to regenerative agriculture. With decades of experience in regenerative farming practices, Florida Crystals is excited to mark a new record at its one-of-a-kind agricultural compost facility along with announcing updated graphics on its packaging that display the ROC™ certification, both of which emphasize its regenerative mission to mimic nature in our farming practices, actively improve soil health, increase carbon drawdown and create a resilient food supply.

Florida Crystals’ compost facility is the embodiment of its regenerative philosophy.

Florida Crystals' compost facility is the embodiment of its regenerative philosophy. Already one of the top 10 largest compost facilities in the country, it reached a new milestone, producing 100,000 tons of compost in one season for the first time. The facility, which is integrated into Florida Crystals' sugar milling complex in Pahokee, FL, plays a crucial role in achieving all of the company's five Pillars of Regenerative Agriculture: improve soil health, upcycle byproducts, increase biodiversity, reduce synthetic materials and conserve water.

Read the full article at the source - https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/florida-crystals-celebrates-national-organic-month-with-new-packaging-and-100-000-tons-of-organic-compost-milestone-302235326.html