The Upcycle Company, a company that upcycles fats, oils, proteins, and nutrient-dense fertilizer from food processing plant waste, has planned to build a USD 8 million facility in Lee County, hoping to begin operations in Q1 2023.

In addition, Lee County received a USD 50,000 Rural Infrastructure Fund (RIF) grant from The Coordinating Council for Economic Development to help The Upcycle Company with site preparation.

The Upcycle Company collaborated with Belger Farms, a family-run farm that uses organic residuals as supplemental fertilizer, to build the new facility. According to the partnership, The Upcycle Company will build a treatment facility at Belger Farms to separate the oils from these residuals, producing a co-product with applications in fertilizer, cosmetics, energy, animal feed, and other industries.

The Upcycle Company provides services to meat processing, food production, and other industries that produce wastewater high in fat, oil, and protein content. The company's fat and oil extraction (FOX) technology separates the oils and protein powders and upcycles them into co-products.