• Request for Information: Organic Material Recovery

  • INTRODUCTION

    MARC is developing a transformative material recovery plan to establish a robust circular economy in the Kansas City region (KC). By diverting durable, low-carbon materials from landfills and retaining them locally, the initiative aims to build a more resilient and self-reliant regional ecosystem. The larger vision includes the development of circular industrial parks that will leverage KC’s intermodal logistics to position the region as a Midwest hub for secondary materials. These parks are designed to stimulate business growth, create high-quality jobs, and provide the community with more equitable access to affordable goods and healthy food.

    In partnership with the Foundation for Regeneration (FFR), MARC is focusing this RFI on the recovery and repurposing of organic waste materials (examples provided in the section below). We envision multiple locations emerging around the region. For example, FFR and a local developer are planning to transform one site (a 100+ acre remediated brownfield) into a circular industrial park dedicated to processing organic waste. Identifying solution providers who are interested in co-locating on this site or others can help maximize the value of this material and is key to the long-term success of these local circular parks.

  • PURPOSE

    This purpose of this RFI is to identify strategic partners across the entire value chain—from waste generators to processors—who can contribute to this regenerative infrastructure. If you have the capacity to transform organic waste into high-value products or provide supporting services, MARC and FFR invite you to share how your organization can help turn local waste into a regional asset.

  • SCOPE OF INFORMATION REQUIRED

    MARC and FFR will use responses to this RFI to shape the programming for an Organic Materials Recovery Summit that will be held August 26, 2026 in KC. Respondents will be invited to attend. In that setting, attendees can learn more about the circular industrial park and other circular economy opportunities for valorizing organic waste in the region. You’ll also meet local leaders, investors, solution providers and ecosystem players who have a vested interest in growing this space.

  • Development stage*
  • 0/300
  • Feedstock required? (If applicable, select all organic waste material applied as inputs.)
  • 0/300
  • Do you have the money to mobilize this solution in KC?*
  • Format: (000) 000-0000.

  • EXAMPLES OF ORGANIC WASTE MATERIALS

    Organic waste is a broad category of material. For the purposes of this RFI, we are defining it as discarded material composed of flora or fauna. Within that lens are the following submaterial streams, each capable of generating value for the community:

    • Food waste, preventable: Food that could have been consumed, but was wasted.
    • Food waste, non-edible: Any part of food not normally consumed or eaten, like an orange peel, watermelon rind, corn cob, eggshell, bone, etc.).
    • Green waste: Things like grass clippings, leaves, tree trimmings, brush, etc.
    • Urban lumber: Trees removed due to disease, storm damage or development.
    • Structural wood waste: Construction and demolition wood, broken pallets and railroad ties.
    • Agricultural residue: Materials such as stalks, husks and other materials left after harvesting. Also includes manure.
    • Industry byproducts: Items normally discarded after finished product is completed: wood waste from furniture manufacturing, spent grain from breweries, coffee grounds from roasters, meat processing and dairy byproducts, etc.
    • Biosolids: Material containing biological waste, like sludge from water treatment plants.
    • F.O.G. waste: Special category of non-polar, hydrophobic biological materials requiring special handling: Fats, oils and greases.
    • Animal carcasses: Unprocessed carcasses such as culled livestock and wildlife struck by vehicles.

  • EXAMPLES OF INDUSTRIAL SYMBIOSIS

    NOTE: These are meant only for illustration purposes and to spur ideas:

    • Bio-refining and fermentation cluster: A cluster focusing on organic molecules and nutrient cycling, often revolving around the food and beverage industry.
      • Providers: breweries, distilleries or food processors (producing spent grain, yeast or pulp).
      • Receivers: mycelium packaging startups, black solider fly (BSF) larvae producers, or bioplastic (PHA) manufacturers.
      • Synergy: spent brewery grain, rich in protein and fiber, is fed directly to BSF larvae or fermented to produce PHA for the production of bioplastic. The larvae are processed by a neighboring animal feed manufacturer into protein meal for aquaculture. The insect waste (frass) is piped to a precision fertilizer plant that turns it into high-end organic plant food.
    • Energy and mycelium cluster: A cluster focusing on dry, fibrous waste (lignocellulose) and generating thermal and bio-based energy.
      • Anchor: An urban lumber sawmill or furniture factory (producing sawdust or wood chips).
      • Receiver: A mycelium packaging startup or commercial mushroom farm.
      • Synergy: Sawdust is used as the "substrate" (growing medium) for mushrooms or fungal packaging. The carbon dioxide exhaled by the mushrooms is piped to a neighboring vertical farm, while the spent wood/fungal blocks are sent to a pyrolysis plant to be turned into biochar and syngas.
    • Resin and adhesive cluster: This group provides the eco-friendly "glue" and protective coatings that hold modern products together.
      • Anchor: An anaerobic digester, or AD.
      • Neighbors: A renewable natural gas (RNG) refiner and a CO₂ mineralization plant.
      • Synergy: The AD produces biogas and digestate. The RNG plant refines the gas for the grad, while the "waste" CO₂ from the refining process is piped to a green concrete plant, where it is injected into cement to permanently sequester carbon and strengthen the blocks.
  • Should be Empty: