EPA Opens 2026 SBIR Funding for Food Waste Projects

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has opened its 2026 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I solicitation, and food waste is one of the named topics. Proposals are due November 8, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

What the food waste topic covers

Topic 3A asks for innovative technologies to prevent and recycle food waste. It sits in the solicitation's circular economy category, next to Topic 3B on lithium battery and critical mineral recovery.

Phase I awards go up to $100,000 for a six-month proof-of-concept project. Phase I is the first step of the SBIR program: it funds early technical work, and successful projects can later compete for larger Phase II awards.

Who can apply and how

The program is open to US small businesses. Proposals go through FedConnect, and applicants need several federal registrations in place first, including SAM.gov with a Unique Entity Identifier and the SBA Company Registry. These registrations can take time, so teams that plan to apply should start them now rather than in the last week.

Read the full topic description in the official solicitation before deciding whether a specific technology fits.

Why it matters

A dedicated SBIR topic gives small companies working on food waste prevention, collection, composting or processing a direct route to early-stage federal funding. For food service operators, venues and campuses, it also shows that food waste technology is on EPA's 2026 research agenda.

If you are planning how to handle food waste at your own site, see how on-site composting works on our products page.