Expanding Food Waste Recycling

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - July 16, 2025

Contact: Megan Strickland | 816-766-5134

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and food-recycling company Mill have announced a new investment in community-wide food scraps recycling as Kansas City prepares to take the world stage as a 2026 FIFA World Cup host city.

As part of this collaboration, Kansas City is rolling out 50 Mill food recyclers across municipal buildings-including City Hall, ten community centers, and 33 fire stations-marking a significant expansion of the city's composting infrastructure. Mill's sleek, quiet, easy-to-use devices grind and dehydrate food scraps overnight, reducing their volume by over 80% and producing clean, dry grounds that are collected monthly and turned into compost by Missouri Organic Recycling.

Kansas City has already collected nearly 130,000 pounds of compost through its composting program. This next phase aims to significantly increase that total, helping to prevent unnecessary landfill expansion and improve local soil health.

"Kansas City's partnership with Mill is an investment in our city's future," said Mayor Lucas. "We're building a Kansas City that's cleaner, healthier, and ready to shine when we welcome the world in 2026. Food scrap recycling goes beyond the World Cup; it helps make our city and our world better, creating a more sustainable future."

Residents will gain new access points for food scrap drop-offs at all ten of the city's community centers as part of Kansas City's expanded composting program. The community center locations will complement existing drop-off sites and help reduce the amount of organic waste sent to landfills.

"Kansas City's investment demonstrates an innovative approach to tackling wasted food and a compelling vision for the city's future," said Lou Pieh, Head of Policy at Mill. "Mill is an easy-to-deploy solution that turns food scraps into a resource that benefits the whole community and delivers measurable action against sustainability goals."

Mill food recyclers, already successfully piloted in Phoenix and other cities, transform food scraps into safe, stable material that can be composted or repurposed as animal feed. In Kansas City, these recyclers will also be used to engage local youth through community center kitchens, offering hands-on education in sustainability.