Today we’d like to introduce you to Xavier DeRoos.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve always been fascinated by living systems and how everything is connected. My background is in marine biology and aquaculture, and aquatic ecosystem management. Over time, I began to see a clear pattern that many of the environmental problems showing up in our waters, such as algal blooms, coral struggles, red tides, and declining ecosystem health, were tied directly to how we use synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides that run off from our cities and agricultural areas into our waterways polluting them with nutrients and waste from land.
That realization led me to organics recycling and soil regeneration through composting. I see composting not just as waste diversion, but as a way to truly close the loop, and restore our food systems, returning nutrients back to the soil instead of sending them to landfills or waterways. In 2020, I founded Renüable with the goal of making composting easy, accessible, clean, and community-driven.
What started as a small local collection program quickly grew into a multi-region operation across Florida, serving residents, businesses, events, schools, and municipalities. Along the way, we’ve built processing infrastructure, developed educational programs, partnered with cities, and expanded into regenerative agriculture at our farm, where we turn food scraps into compost that helps rebuild soils and grow food.
Today, Renüable operates across several Florida regions, has diverted millions of pounds of organics from landfills, and works at the intersection of waste reduction, soil health, and community education. Alongside our work at Renüable, I serve as the Chapter Director for the Florida Composting Council, sit on the board of Friends of Our Florida Reefs, and collaborate with the Sustainable Events Network Florida & Caribbean to advocate for and advance organics recycling and environmental initiatives across the state.
We’re still growing, but the mission remains the same as day one: close the loop, heal soils, and cultivate a more regenerative future.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Like any mission-driven business, Renüable definitely hasn’t had a perfectly smooth road. Composting sits at the intersection of waste management, agriculture, and environmental policy, so building something new in this space means navigating complex regulations, infrastructure challenges, and public education all at once.
One of the biggest early hurdles was purchasing and getting the basics in place, securing vehicles, containers, tractors, and equipment, and getting the word out enough to attract our first large clients, and since then, constantly expanding and adjusting systems as demand is growing. Since the beginning, we bootstrapped much of the business, reinvesting revenue into trucks, equipment, processing sites, and our team. At the same time, demand for composting services began expanding across multiple regions of the state, so scaling geographically while maintaining high service quality required constant adaptation. For this, I’m endlessly grateful for our team; their energy, dedication, and belief in the larger mission has consistently multiplied what we’re capable of and amplified our capacity far beyond what our size would suggest.
We’ve also had to overcome outdated perceptions of composting. Many people still picture backyard piles, not modern, clean, scalable systems. Educating residential customers, municipalities, and businesses about what contemporary composting can look like has been a continuous effort.
But none of this has happened in isolation. Our members and community have played a huge role in getting us here. Word of mouth replaced traditional marketing, neighbors told neighbors, businesses told other businesses, and that grassroots support carried us through some of the hardest stages of growth. And perhaps most importantly, there have been many moments along the way where things just worked out exactly when or how they needed to. The right opportunity, the right partnership, the right solution appearing just in time. It’s made me very aware that while I may help steer the ship, the successes Renüable has experienced aren’t just mine to claim. They’re the result of community, collaboration, timing, and a mission that feels bigger than any one person.
That said, every challenge has helped us build stronger systems, better partnerships, and a clearer mission. The road isn’t easy, but it’s been meaningful, and the growing demand for sustainable solutions makes it feel like we’re exactly where we’re meant to be.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Renüable is a community-powered composting and regenerative living company based in Florida. At our core, we make composting simple, clean, and accessible for residents, businesses, events, schools, and municipalities, transforming everyday food scraps into finished compost that rebuilds soil and strengthens local food systems.
What helps set us apart is that we don’t just collect organic material, we close the loop. We operate our own processing infrastructure and regenerative agriculture sites, where the food scraps we collect are turned into high-quality compost that goes back into Florida soils. This creates a local circular economy where “waste” becomes a local resource, rather than a problem material to be incinerated or landfilled.
We’ve designed our services to be as clean and convenient as possible. From our curbside residential collection to commercial programs that use sealed, odor-controlled drums, and into large-scale event composting, we build systems that fit seamlessly into daily operations while keeping composting simple and mess-free.
Beyond composting, we have continued to grow into our broader regenerative services ecosystem that we refer to as #liverenuable. We offer sustainable landscaping and food forest design, educational programs and workshops, compostable serviceware solutions for events and businesses, and we donate compost back to local schools, community gardens, and our members to help strengthen neighborhood food systems and green spaces.
We’re deeply community-driven. Much of our growth has come through word of mouth and grassroots partnerships rather than traditional marketing, and we focus heavily on education, making composting approachable and practical, while helping to show people that sustainable living can fit naturally into everyday routines.
Brand-wise, I’m most proud that Renüable has become known for reliability, cleanliness, and integratable sustainability, proving that composting shouldn’t be messy or complicated. We’ve worked hard to build systems and an overall brand experience that feels professional, friendly, and trustworthy. We’re also proud to work with a wide range of partners. Over the years, organizations like Starbucks, Costco, Waste Management, Four Seasons, American Express, and the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and City of Tampa, along with major Florida events including Ultra Music Festival, Formula 1 Miami, Tortuga Music Festival, and the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, have all trusted us to manage their organic waste streams. These partnerships demonstrate that composting can operate at both community and commercial scales with reliability and professionalism.
What I’d want readers to know most is that Renüable is about more than waste reduction. It’s about restoring soil health, protecting Florida’s waters, supporting local food production, and giving people a tangible way to participate in environmental solutions. Every bucket, barrel, and collection route represents someone choosing to be part of a regenerative future, something we’re grateful to build together.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Some of the most important lessons I’ve learned are that you can’t build something meaningful alone and that you can’t force the timeline of growth. A colleague once told me that “an organics recycling company should grow organically” and that idea has always stuck with me: that everything unfolds at the pace that it’s meant to.
But, perhaps most of all, I’ve learned patience. That building infrastructure, changing public behavior, and shifting environmental systems takes time and consistency. The work is slow by nature, but the impact is lasting and necessary. That perspective has helped me stay grounded through uncertainty and grateful through growth.
This journey taught me trust, in that when you stay true to the mission, trust your team and community, and keep showing up, things tend to unfold in ways you couldn’t have planned, but yet, exactly how they needed to.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.liverenuable.com
- Instagram: @liverenuable
- Facebook: @liverenuable
- Twitter: @liverenuable
- Youtube: @liverenuable
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