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Feedback Earth in Grafton
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Feedback Earth site in Grafton sold for $4M as food recycling company known for odor issues exits state
Photo | Eric Casey
A sign across the street from Feedback Earth's former facility discourages trucks visiting from the site from entering the property.
After years of complaints and legal issues regarding the smell emanating from its Grafton facility, food recycling firm Feedback Earth is exiting Massachusetts after selling the property for $4.04 million.
The site, located at 109 Creeper Hill Road, was sold in a deal finalized on Friday, according to Worcester District Registry of Deeds records. The property was sold to an entity managed by Anthony Barry, the owner of Grafton-based Service Plus Disposal.
Feedback Earth had been subject to a barrage of complaints from local residents over smells emanating from its facility designed to convert food waste into animal feed. The company was fined in 2022 and again in 2023 for violations of terms of its state permit and was subject to a lawsuit from the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office in October over noxious odors. The processing of shellfish was commonly cited as the cause of odors at the site.
Feedback Earth also dealt with two fires at the facility in 2023, according to the Community Advocate. Nobody was hurt in either blaze.
Service Plus will convert the 24,900-square-foot industrial building on the site into a construction debris transfer station, according to a press release issued by Fieldstone Commercial Properties on Monday. Service Plus already has a presence in the area, owning a site located at 91 Creeper Hill Road, according to Town of Grafton property records.
Feedback Earth did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the sale, but the company is moving its operations out of Massachusetts, according to Nolan Ryan of Fieldstone Commercial Properties, who represented Feedback Earth in the transaction. Ryan said he wasn’t cleared to provide specifics on the company’s next location.
“Overall it’s a really successful transaction that I'm hoping the community will embrace,” Ryan said. “There was some level of tension with the former ownership, but it’s great having a local guy like Tony [Barry] step in and be able to keep kind of a very similar use. Obviously, they're not going to be processing shellfish there, but it'll be a contractor transfer station for construction debris.”
Feedback Earth initially purchased the property for $2.3 million in 2021, according to Town of Grafton property records. The site received a 2025 tax assessment value of $2.23 million.
With interest rates higher than they were in previous years, owner-occupants are driving transactions more so than large real estate investors, according to Nate Nickerson of Fieldstone Commercial.
“It's nice to see that, since there's a little bit of a break from the investor deals, local occupants are able to buy more,” Nickerson said.
Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the manufacturing and real estate industries.
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