Turning waste into energy and app anxiety in China

Some people might look in a grocery store dumpster and see trash. But others are starting to see dollar signs.

New facilities are springing up across the United States to help fight food waste using a process called anaerobic digestion, which uses microbes to break down organic matter. Divert, a company that fights food waste, announced today that it has received a $1 billion funding deal to help build and deploy the technology.

It’s just one of many companies focused on turning one person’s table scraps into energy for another, with the added benefit of a climate benefit. Read the full story.

—Casey Crownhart

Why the stress around Chinese apps in the US is overblown

If you take a look at app stores in the United States right now, you might be surprised to find that they’re dominated by Chinese programs.

On Monday, the three most downloaded free apps on Apple’s App Store were Temu, TikTok and CapCut (a TikTok video editor); the same chart in the Google Play Store was led by Temu, TikTok, and Shein. All four programs are created by Chinese social media or e-commerce companies.

Clearly, made-in-China apps are having a moment in the US, which is particularly interesting given how governments around the world are currently trying to crack down on the use of TikTok on staff devices. The same treatment could easily be applied to other Chinese apps.

But while there are real concerns about the privacy protocols of these apps, much of the anxiety over the presence of Chinese apps on our phones is overblown and politicized. Read the full story.