Carbon market infrastructure provider Xpansiv and climate solutions company Brightly are bringing a new category of carbon credits to market—ones that tie methane reduction directly to food rescue operations across the United States.
The credits, the first large-scale issuance under Verra’s VM0046 methodology for reducing food loss and waste, are tied to a nationwide network of food rescue organizations operating across approximately 97% of U.S. counties.
By diverting surplus food from landfills, the projects prevent the release of methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2) over the short term.
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An initial tranche of roughly 250,000 A-rated, ex-ante credits—with potential to scale to 500,000—will be offered through a request-for-quote process on Xpansiv’s CBL spot exchange, running from April 23 to June 1 this year.
The credits have received an Ae pre-issuance rating from BeZero Carbon, according to a joint announcement on Wednesday.
Russell Karas, Senior Vice President of Xpansiv, said the CBL exchange’s RFQ mechanisms support transparent price discovery, which is particularly important for new methodologies entering the market.
Up to 80% of proceeds from credit sales will flow back to the food rescue organizations themselves, enabling them to recover more food, serve more people, and respond to growing demand driven by rising food costs and reductions in public assistance programs.
“We’re proud to partner with Xpansiv to bring greater visibility and access to these first-of-their-kind, A-rated credits,” Andy Levitt, chief executive of Brightly, said in a comment.
He called the initiative “a new model for climate finance,” providing a direct link between emissions reduction and meaningful social impact.
Participation is open to all market participants without a CBL or Verra registry account, and the RFQ structure accommodates spot purchases, forward offtake agreements, and buy-to-retire transactions.
A joint webinar with panelists from Feeding America and The Climate Trust is scheduled for April 23, with registration here.
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