Post by Circular Supply Chain Network

This Week In Circular Supply Chains Each week, we highlight something that caught our attention in the world of circular supply chain and why it matters for how circular systems get built in the real world. This week, Mill Industries and Amazon announced a partnership to install in-store food scrap recycling systems across Whole Foods locations, with the processed output becoming chicken feed for Whole Foods' own private-label egg suppliers. Pilot rollout is planned for 2027, starting in the produce department. Whole Foods' VP of Sustainability called the scraps "a super valuable, nutrient-rich commodity," and that reframe definitely matters. But the more interesting story is structural: this is a logistics play. Mill's in-store systems become collection nodes on a network Amazon already runs. The trucks, the refrigeration, the store-level frequency, it's all there. The closed loop is essentially a route, not a new infrastructure build. That is the part most retailers cannot replicate easily. Reverse logistics from store to feed supplier to egg producer back to shelf can ride for free when you already own every leg of it. Most grocers are not even contemplating the data layer required to coordinate that, let alone the physical assets. According to ReFED, nearly 30% of surplus food generated by US retailers still ends up in landfills or incinerators despite donation and composting pathways. Closing that gap requires more than thought and desire. It requires owning, or deeply integrating with, the network that makes the economics work. For practitioners: where else could this closed-loop pattern apply? Product-to-compost-to-farm, packaging-to-resin-to-packaging, returned goods-to-refurbishment.. What is the next category where someone already owns enough of the network to make it viable? You can read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/e9UKQ8tx