CREF Selected as ReFED Catalytic Grant Fund Recipient Tackling Methane

Compost Research & Education Foundation (CREF) is excited to share that we’ve been selected as a ReFED Catalytic Grant Fund grantee for its “Minimizing Methane Through Food Waste Solutions” open call.

Reducing food loss and waste is one of the most powerful levers to cut #Methane emissions. Landfills alone account for roughly 14% of total methane emissions in the U.S., and it’s estimated that 58% of landfill methane comes from food waste.

CREF is tackling that challenge head-on by modernizing the nation’s compost testing standards to strengthen compost quality, improve measurement methodologies, and help build greater trust and scalability across the composting industry. Thus, supporting the larger effort to keep food waste out of landfills and wastewater systems and, instead, transform it into valuable products and resources that support a more circular and resilient food system.

As ReFED’s Angel Veza says, “The food system is a major, often overlooked opportunity for methane reduction. What’s exciting about this cohort is that the grantees are not only reducing emissions, they’re redesigning waste streams into valuable inputs, strengthening domestic composting infrastructure, and helping build a more resource-efficient food system. This is the kind of systems-level innovation that can create measurable climate impact while reshaping how we think about waste altogether.”

Building upon its expertise in food waste innovation and capital deployment, ReFED created the Catalytic Grant Fund to help funders collectively support high-potential solutions through a pooled financing vehicle that provides patient and flexible capital. Since launching in 2022, the Fund’s portfolio of 21 grantees has gone on to secure more than $42.6 million in follow-on funding, a 13x multiplier effect that demonstrates how catalytic philanthropy can help unlock significantly larger waves of investment and accelerate the scale-up of climate solutions.

CREF is proud to be part of a cohort turning waste into climate impact and excited to advance this work alongside ReFED. Learn more in the press release.