Björk Brynjarsdóttir
Systems Designer & Environmental Entrepreneur
from leftovers to living earth
In a world where so much of the conversation revolves around sacrifice or catastrophe, I believe we need new stories that are grounded in participation, agency, and restoration. That’s what led me to co-found Melta, a system that transforms food waste into regenerative fertilizer, helping rural communities cut emissions, reduce costs, and bring life back to degraded soils. In Iceland, where up to 40% of our soils are severely eroded, we’ve seen firsthand how a single dose of Melta fertilizer can bring life back into our soils. It’s powerful to know that something as ordinary as food waste can become a tool for healing if we design the system right.
The impact of my work lives in both the soil and the system. On the ground, we’re making soil carbon sequestration and regenerative agriculture more accessible. In the bigger picture, we’re proving that small municipalities which often get left behind can lead in climate innovation.
Looking ahead, my hope is to continue designing systems that build trust between people and the planet. Systems where residents are seen not as waste producers, but as vital participants in regeneration. Where microbes, not machines, drive transformation. And where every banana peel and leftover plate becomes part of a much bigger story of circularity, restoration, and hope.
“My hope is to continue designing systems that build trust between people and the planet. Systems where residents are seen not as waste producers, but as vital participants in regeneration.”
At Melta, we are exploring what happens when we treat food waste not as a burden to be managed, but as a living material full of potential. We are challenging the idea that innovation needs to be high-tech, urban, or large-scale. Our tools are buckets, microbes, and community. Our laboratory is the home, the compost bin, the wind-swept field. And our goal is to restore something fundamental: the relationship between people, land, and the cycles that connect them.
In rural communities, where infrastructure is often outdated or inaccessible, we are designing circular systems that are deeply local, human-centered, and scalable. We’re pushing the boundaries of what waste management can look like when it is rooted in trust, not control. When residents become active participants in regeneration rather than passive users of a system.
Exploration, to me, is about being willing to look closer. To pay attention to overlooked materials and marginal places. It is about listening to people who are often left out of climate innovation, and asking how their knowledge, care, and labor can lead the way forward. Our work with Melta is not just about reducing emissions or producing fertilizer. It is about expanding who gets to be part of environmental change, and what that change looks like in practice.
