Natural Upcycling

What Natural Upcycling does

Natural Upcycling is a US-based organics management company founded in 2014 and headquartered in Rochester, New York, with regional operations spanning 14 states from Maine through North Carolina. The company operates a vertically integrated platform covering three pillars: source reduction advisory, food rescue coordination, and organic residual recycling. It collects food waste from municipalities, food manufacturers, distribution centers, grocery chains, hospitals, universities, restaurants, and assisted living facilities using its own fleet of collection vehicles and standardized 32- or 64-gallon totes. Material is routed to local compost facilities and anaerobic digestion partners, with proprietary WasteMaster and Tiger Depack technologies used in depackaging services for palletized out-of-spec or expired food products. The company reports processing over 6,750 tons of food residual monthly and has cumulatively rescued more than 20 million pounds of food across 10 states.

The business operates across multiple revenue streams. Commercial and municipal customers pay recurring subscription fees based on volume and pickup frequency, typically weekly. Residential customers subscribe through the Curbside Compost subsidiary (acquired January 2025) at $48 per month for biweekly or $55 per month for weekly curbside pickup in Fairfield County, CT and parts of Westchester County, NY. Depackaging services are charged on a transaction basis for handling expired or out-of-spec food products. Zero-waste consulting, waste audits, and environmental reporting (including Certificates of Destruction meeting state and federal guidelines) are sold as professional services. In February 2025, the company formed DFOcycle (Dairy Feed OpCo LLC), a joint venture with Shan-Elle Limited that processes fluid dairy waste into whole milk powder for young animal feed rations, extending the platform into dairy waste management.

The company is privately held following a 2022 private equity investment from Trailcreek Capital Group and Plexus Capital, in partnership with Noblehurst Green Energy and CEO Harry Cohen. The management team combines waste industry veterans (CEO Harry Cohen is a third-generation solid waste and recycling professional), dairy and anaerobic digestion expertise (CFO Christopher Noble, seventh-generation dairy farmer and Noblehurst Green Energy manager), and Cornell-educated operations leadership. Go-to-market relies on direct field sales for commercial and municipal accounts, supported by a self-serve online subscription portal for residential customers. Named customers include Wegmans Food Markets (10-year zero-waste partnership), the City of Buffalo, Intergrow Greenhouses, and Philadelphia Wholesale Market. No revenue, headcount, or valuation figures have been disclosed in available sources.

Name

Natural Upcycling

Legal name

Natural Upcycling LLC

Website

https://naturalupcycling.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Natural Upcycling is an organics management company that collects, depackages, and recycles food waste from municipalities, food manufacturers, grocery chains, hospitals, universities, and households across 14 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. It also provides food rescue, environmental reporting, and consulting, and recently launched DFOcycle dairy waste processing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Linwood

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Commercial Food Waste Collection Services: Recurring pickup services for commercial and industrial customers using 32 or 64 gallon totes or large containers. Services are tailored to client needs with at least weekly pickup preferred. Revenue is generated through recurring service fees based on volume and frequency of collections.
2. Residential Composting Subscription: Curbside pickup service for residential customers in Fairfield County, CT and parts of Westchester County, NY. Billed monthly at $48 (every other week) or $55 (weekly) per household.
3. Depackaging Services: Zero-waste depackaging services for palletized out-of-spec or expired food products (liquid or solid). Provides one-stop-shop solution for all excess, damaged, or degraded product.
4. Zero Waste Consulting: Technical assistance, waste audits, and consulting services for municipalities and businesses looking to optimize purchasing decisions, implement better recycling practices, and achieve zero waste goals.
5. DFOcycle Dairy Waste Processing (Joint Venture): Joint venture with Shan-Elle Limited providing sustainable dairy waste management solutions including collection, transportation, and processing into whole milk powder for young animal feed rations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Natural Upcycling is an organics management company that collects food waste from commercial, industrial, municipal, and residential customers, then recycles the organic residual into biogas, compost, and animal feed. Its service suite spans source reduction advisory, food rescue, depackaging of out-of-spec products, collection via toters and large containers, and customized environmental reporting and Certificates of Destruction. The company operates its own collection fleet across 14 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states and partners with local compost facilities and anaerobic digesters to process over 6,750 tons of food residual per month.

Product overview

Natural Upcycling is an organics management company offering a platform of interconnected food waste prevention, food sharing, and organic recycling services. Its core service suite consists of Commercial & Restaurant Composting Service (collection using totes with technical assistance and customized solutions for municipalities, food manufacturers, distribution centers, grocery, hospitals, universities, schools, and restaurants), paired with Source Reduction advisory services and a Food Rescue Program that has diverted over 20 million pounds of food. The company additionally operates an Organic Recycling service that processes over 6,750 tons of food residual monthly into biogas and compost, and provides Zero-Waste Depackaging Services (Tiger Depack technology), Environmental Reports, Certificates of Destruction, and Waste Audits and Consulting. As a subsidiary, Curbside Compost (acquired January 2025) provides residential food scrap collection in Fairfield County and parts of Westchester County. The DFOcycle joint venture (announced February 2025) extends the platform into dairy waste management. The company operates trucks and organics processing infrastructure across 14 states (Maine through North Carolina).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 20 Million Pounds of Food Rescued
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Shan-Elle LimitedflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 February 2025Formation of Dairy Feed OpCo LLC (DFOcycle), a US-based joint venture dedicated to sustainable dairy waste management solutions. Shan-Elle brings over 35 years of Canadian dairy industry experience and expertise in processing fluid dairy by-products. The partnership combines Shan-Elle's dairy waste processing expertise with Natural Upcycling's infrastructure, technology, and Northeast/Mid-Atlantic geographic reach.
• Curbside CompostflagshipOthers · 27 January 2025Ridgefield, CT-based food scrap recycling company acquired by Natural Upcycling in January 2025. Founded in 2015 by Nick Skeadas, Curbside Compost provides food scrap recycling and soil delivery services to municipalities, institutions, businesses, and residents in Connecticut and New York. The acquisition deepens Natural Upcycling's client base in the Connecticut and New York markets and adds residential curbside composting capabilities.
• Noblehurst Green EnergycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 October 2022Partner in Natural Upcycling investment alongside Trailcreek and Plexus. Associated with Christopher Noble, seventh-generation dairy farmer and Manager of Noblehurst Green Energy, a state-of-the-art complete mix anaerobic co-digester. The partnership connects Natural Upcycling to anaerobic digestion infrastructure and dairy industry relationships.
• Local Compost FacilitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNatural Upcycling partners with local compost facilities in customer areas to reduce truck emissions and keep food waste and related compost products in the local system. These partnerships are essential to the company's recycling operations.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Casella Waste Systems: Regional solid waste and recycling hauler with a growing organics and recycling division operating across the Northeast. Most directly comparable to Natural Upcycling in terms of regional concentration, customer mix (municipalities, grocers, food manufacturers), and route-based organics collection services.
• CompostNow: Subscription-based residential and commercial food scrap collection service operating in multiple U.S. states. Closest direct competitor to the Curbside Compost residential subscription business and to the commercial composting services, with a similar recurring-revenue model.
• Bootstrap Compost: Subscription residential and commercial food waste collection service in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Directly comparable to the Curbside Compost subscription model, serving households, restaurants, and institutions with curbside pickup.
• Agri-Cycle: Northeast-based food waste hauling and organics recycling company serving food manufacturers, grocers, and institutions across New England and the Mid-Atlantic. Closely comparable to Natural Upcycling in customer base, services (collection, depackaging, AD partnership), and regional footprint.
• Vanguard Renewables: Farm-based anaerobic digestion and organics recycling company that converts food waste into renewable energy across the Northeast. Comparable to Natural Upcycling's partnership with Noblehurst Green Energy for AD processing and to the company's biogas-focused value chain.
• EcoSafe Waste Management: Organics and food waste collection company operating primarily in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, serving municipalities and commercial food waste generators. Comparable regional peer to Natural Upcycling with overlapping service lines in food waste hauling and organics processing.

Broad incumbents

• Waste Management: Largest North American waste services company with a growing organics recycling and food waste platform. Operates its own compost and AD infrastructure nationwide; competes with Natural Upcycling for large municipal and grocery contracts and benefits from greater route density and capital.
• Republic Services: Major national solid waste and recycling company with organics processing capabilities and sustainability offerings targeting municipalities and large commercial customers. A broad incumbent that overlaps with Natural Upcycling in grocery, food manufacturing, and municipal organics collection.
• Rubicon Technologies: Waste and recycling technology and services company providing organics collection, recycling, and consulting solutions to commercial and municipal customers. Comparable to Natural Upcycling's enterprise services and zero-waste consulting offering, with a stronger technology/saas angle.

Emerging players

• Divert: U.S. food waste prevention and processing company that operates advanced depackaging and organics-to-energy processing assets and serves major grocery and food service customers. Comparable to Natural Upcycling's depackaging and organics recycling business, with a technology-heavy, asset-owning model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xfacebook.com/naturalupcycling
• Facebookfacebook.com/naturalupcycling
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/natural-upcycling-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Natural Upcycling