In February 2023, Mill and the City of Tacoma announced a first-of-its-kind agreement to pilot a new strategy for using connected in-home food recycling infrastructure to address residential food waste diversion. The goals of the pilot were to determine if Mill's food recycling technology could increase citizen participation in food scraps source separation efforts, reduce contamination in the waste stream, and offer a new opportunity for residential customers to reduce the volume and price of their waste service by separating food scraps out of the waste stream.
Results: Increased Per-Household Food Scrap Source Separation
- Mill participants in the Tacoma pilot source separated ten times more food scraps than the average Tacoma household1.
- 84% of respondents to a post-pilot survey reported putting zero food scraps into the trash after having Mill at home.
- Over half of respondents had not previously used the City's food scraps collection service, indicating that Mill is improving both the quality and quantity of citizen participation in food scrap source separation efforts.
Results: Reduction in Garbage Cart Volume, with Time and Cost-Saving Implications
- Prior to Mill, 84% of respondents reported their garbage cart was generally full or overfull. After having Mill, zero respondents reported having an overfull garbage cart, and over half (56%) reported room to spare.
- These results indicate that Mill is reducing the amount of food that ends up in the trash, and offers new opportunities for people living in pay-as-you-throw jurisdictions to save money on their monthly waste bill.
- Most surveyed households also saw a reduction in household chores: 56% reported they were taking the trash out less frequently, and 72% responded they were taking the garbage out once a week or less.
"The diversion numbers for the Mill pilot are impressive, and the technology has been generally effective in addressing the ick factor for residential customers who want to divert food waste, and have a willingness to pay for the service. We are interested in exploring ways that this type of technology can fit into our overall menu of solid waste services," said Lewis Griffith, Solid Waste Division Manager, City of Tacoma.
Economic and Environmental Implications for Consumers and Municipalities
Results from Mill's pilot with the City of Tacoma reinforce insights from Mill's inaugural data report, which demonstrated that Mill is increasing awareness of food waste and changing behavior in a sustained way, and presenting new opportunities for people to save money and reduce waste. Coupled with the finding based on over two million days of device data that Mill customers nationwide decreased the overall amount of wasted food they produce by over 20% over the first four months of use, the economic implications are significant: a Mill Tacoma customer could save $320 downsizing the size of their garbage cart, and save at least $380 annually through a 20% reduction in wasted food.2
The results from Mill's first municipal pilot have implications for government leaders across the country seeking proven, readily-deployable, cost-effective technology solutions that are compatible with existing municipal infrastructure to increase food waste diversion efforts in their communities. Mill's insights can be leveraged at the community level to help local leaders understand and influence the unique challenges of organics collection, and make more informed procurement decisions.
"Participation and contamination are the Achilles' heel of organics collection programs. This data demonstrates the type of breakthrough in overcoming the ick factor that this industry has been waiting for," said Scott Smithline, Policy at Mill and Former Director of CalRecycle.
Background on Mill and City of Tacoma Pilot
The City of Tacoma, Washington is one of the most forward-leaning municipalities in the United States committed to tackling food waste. The City began collecting and recycling residential food waste in 2012—since then, diverting up to 1,000 tons per year of compostable food waste from landfills.3
The City of Tacoma operates under a pay-as-you-throw waste structure, which means residents pay based on the size of their garbage cart. The most popular option in Tacoma is the 60-gallon garbage cart collected every other week, which costs $53.47 per month. The smallest option, a 30-gallon garbage cart collected every other week, costs $26.77 per month. By opting to downsize their garbage container, residents could save up to $26.70 per month on their waste bill.
Participants in the Tacoma pilot were self-selected, and the costs for Mill's food-recycling system were paid by participating households.
Mill's food recycling system from Nest Cofounder Matt Rogers and early Nest leader Harry Tannenbaum turns household food scraps into clean, dry grounds that can feed farms or gardens. Built by engineers from Apple and Google, Mill's food recycler is sensitive to food scrap inputs as small as 15 grams—the equivalent of a single strawberry—which means Mill has a precise understanding of how much food is being added to its fleet of connected food-recyclers. This means that households across the country have real-time visibility into how much food they're wasting, and can act on it.
To learn more about how Mill can help your community, visit mill.com/municipalities.
About Mill Industries Inc. ("Mill")
Mill makes it easy to prevent food waste at home with an innovative new kitchen experience and pathways that keep food out of landfills. Food isn't trash. Together, we can do better.
Mill was founded in 2020 by Matt Rogers and Harry Tannenbaum, who worked together at Nest, building the iconic Nest Learning Thermostat and other smart home products. The lessons they learned about encouraging new habits at home that are good for people and the planet were applied in creating Mill to change our perception of waste, starting in the kitchen.
Mill is a trademark of Mill Industries Inc.
Follow Mill: Instagram and Facebook
1 Mill pilot households (84 total) represented about 0.1% of total City of Tacoma households (89,228) and processed a total of 12 tons of food scraps (approximately 1% of the City's total organics source-separated and collected based on 2015 data). If the City of Tacoma's total tonnage of food scraps collected (1204 tons) was attributed evenly across every household in Tacoma, this would represent a 10X increase in per-household diversion rates in homes that had Mill compared to homes that did not.
2 This calculation assumes 2.5 persons/household according to 2022 US Census Bureau; Bureau of Labor Statistics and 2022 data from ReFED that the average American spends $759 on food that goes uneaten: https://refed.org/food-waste/consumer-food-waste. That adds up to the average American family wasting almost $1,900 per year on wasted food, and a 20% reduction could save households at least $380 per year. By downsizing from a 60-gallon cart to a 30-gallon cart, Tacoma residents could save $320 per year.
3 The City of Tacoma collected 26,046 tons of organics through the single-family curbside collection program in 2015. 1,204 tons were classified as food waste, vegetative and other food waste. Source (pg 70): https://cms.cityoftacoma.org/SolidWaste/SMMP%202016_ExecSumm%20Vol%20123_FullReport.pdf
SOURCE Mill Industries Inc.
Share this article