SYRACUSE — The United States generates about 33 million tons of food waste annually and spends more than $1 billion to dispose of it, mostly in landfills, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The decomposition process of discarded food in landfills is associated with 14 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions, the EPA says.

One local college graduate and budding entrepreneur, Michael Amadori, a recent graduate of the SUNY-College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) majoring in ecological engineering, has come up with a better idea for using some of that waste.

As part of his master’s-degree thesis at SUNY-ESF, Amadori developed a system to convert food waste into pellets to be used for fish feed.

Amadori later adapted his idea to create a system that converts leftover food scraps into dog treats. In June 2012, Amadori launched his business, called Full Circle Feed LLC, based on this idea.      

The company name is inspired by the zero-waste manufacturing process in which waste comes “full circle” to create a new product.

“I started this company to solve a problem, and the problem is the food waste we have in the society. The fact that we are throwing it out is a very linear way of thinking,” says Amadori.

On Dec. 16, Full Circle Feed was selected as one of five firms to win a $30,000 initial investment and office space for six months from the Startup Labs Syracuse regional business competition.

The five teams participated in a 22-day business training boot camp from Jan. 7 to Feb. 5. The teams pitched their business plans on Feb. 7 at Syracuse Technology Garden to make their case for winning the competition.

One winning team will be announced at CenterState CEO’s annual meeting on April 8. That firm will receive a $150,000 cash prize and the Market Ready Award presented by Syracuse–based advertising agency Eric Mower + Associates (EMA), which will provide a suite of marketing and branding services valued at $50,000.

Greg Loh is the managing partner and director of public relations and public affairs at EMA. In the past month, Loh has served as a marketing consultant for teams participating in the Startup Labs competition and has helped Amadori outline his business strategies.

The market Amadori is about to enter is highly competitive, Loh states, but Full Circle Feed does possess the capacity to succeed.

“From a business and marketing standpoint, his cost of goods and access to raw material is a tremendous competitive advantage,” says Loh.

Since food wastes are readily available and cost almost nothing to obtain, the challenge of purchasing raw material almost doesn’t exist for Full Circle Feed, according to Loh. Amadori currently collects food scraps mainly from Ernie Davis and Sadler dining halls at Syracuse University.

In addition to the firm’s low input costs, Full Circle Feed’s environmentally friendly approach will also become a major selling point, Loh says.

“Michael’s business is about more than just a product, it is about doing something rare for the society,” Loh says. “I like his purpose-driven approach and I think this approach will resonate with a large segment of the consumer space.”

Quality

Compared to most dog treats in the market, Full Circle Feed’s produces contain no starch and are less expensive than some high-end products. “It’s going be better for the environment and better for the dog,” says Amadori. He adds that he even eats the treats himself occasionally.

 Several retailers in Syracuse, and some consumers, have already contacted Amadori and shown interest in his products. But since the manufacturing equipment he is using  a facility in Cornell University’s Fruit & Vegetable Pilot Plant in Geneva — is for research purposes, Amadori is not allowed to sell the treats. But in the next four to six months, he plans to purchase three pieces of processing equipment that is estimated to cost about $40,000. He is also planning to buy a box truck that will cost around $7,000.

To help with his market research, Amadori is currently conducting an online survey about buying habits of dog owners. People can get a free box of treats by taking the survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FullCircleFeed.

Douglas J. Daley, SUNY-ESF associate professor and director of the SUNY Center for Brownfield Studies, was Amadori’s graduate adviser at SUNY-ESF. He says Amadori’s business could help increase public awareness of the possibility of converting waste into successful products and building a business based on them.

“There are better things to do with food wastes than putting them into landfills,” says Daley. “What he is doing makes people more aware of other opportunities.”

Regarding his future plans, Amadori says he wants to focus on the local market of Central New York and make the products right here.

“I want to start in Central New York, build my factory here, and sell my products right back inside the community,” says Amadori. “So it’s not only full circle from the ingredients, it’s full circle from the people.”

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