Building circular hospitality infrastructure in Detroit
DETROIT DECONTAMINATED is developing a technology-enabled food recovery and reuse platform that helps food operators track surplus, prevent waste, route recoverable food, create new value, and measure impact.
Detroit is the proof point. The platform is built to scale.
Food waste is not only a food problem. It is an infrastructure problem.
Michigan food businesses waste the equivalent of nearly 500 million meals each year, while Detroit continues to experience significant food insecurity.
Food operators want to reduce waste, but many do not have the tools to:
- Track overproduction
- Identify surplus early
- Route recoverable food
- Measure diversion
- Create value from excess ingredients
- Produce reliable sustainability data
The missing piece is connected recovery infrastructure.
DETROIT DECONTAMINATED is building that infrastructure.
One platform. Four recovery pathways.
What We Are BuildingOur system is designed to help food businesses move surplus into the highest-value available use.
The objective is not simply to divert waste. It is to keep food and materials at their highest possible value for as long as possible.
Track. Route. Report.
The TechnologyOur operator platform is designed to monitor production, overproduction, surplus, and waste patterns. Better visibility allows kitchens to make better production decisions before waste occurs.
When surplus exists, the system helps direct material toward the appropriate recovery pathway. That may include:
- Redistribution
- Upcycled production
- Composting
- Other approved recovery options
Operators can measure recovery and diversion activity through centralized reporting and analytics — designed to support food operators, corporate partners, municipalities, institutions, funders, and sustainability teams.
We start inside the kitchen.
Most recovery programs begin after surplus has already been created. DETROIT DECONTAMINATED is designed to work closer to the source.
That creates the ability to address waste before it leaves the building. We then pair those operational insights with a technology layer designed for tracking, routing, and reporting.
Operations + Technology — that combination is the foundation of the model.
By operating within commercial food environments, we can better understand:
- Production
- Purchasing
- Prep
- Overproduction
- Surplus
- Waste patterns
- Recovery opportunities
Detroit is where we prove the model.
DETROIT DECONTAMINATED is being developed and validated through a network of active Detroit businesses and circular-economy partners — active operating environments with kitchens, people, systems, and infrastructure that can help move the concept from theory to implementation.
Meet the ecosystem →Current Ecosystem
- IVY Kitchen + Cocktails
- Antidóte Detroit
- ArtPlay Café + Cultural Center
- Detroit Dirt
- 6 Degrees Development
We have been measuring this since 2021
IVY Kitchen + Cocktails has published a waste reduction impact report every year since 2021. Across five years that is 117,746 guest covers and a prevention and diversion rate that improved every single year, from 30.0% to 35.5%.
Antidóte Detroit published its opening-year baseline in 2025. Two anchor sites, both reporting, both feeding the same model.
Read the reportsModeled figures are planning estimates, not audited results. Every report states its own assumptions.
The software travels. Detroit stays the proof point.
Once the system is validated locally, the platform is intended to support restaurant operators, hospitality groups, institutions, universities, corporate campuses, municipal governments, NGOs, and sustainability organizations.
The challenge exists in every market where food is produced at scale. Detroit is where we are building the solution.
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