Innovation

The heart of the innovation is its redefinition of “waste.” Traditional waste treatment methods do not separate organics, recyclables, and waste. As such, our waste contains unused energy. Buried organics biodegrade and generate methane gas, which is often vented into the atmosphere, increasing GHG’s and atmospheric temperatures.

The company processes organic waste, removing non-organics, and creating an organic waste slurry. This slurry is then put in an anaerobic digestor to generate biogas, in this case methane. What the system does is accelerate the natural biodegrading process. As such, the “waste” methane is captured, converting it to fuel. The captured biogas fuels a boiler, which generates heat for the system.

The methane-free remaining organic slurry is separated into solids and liquids. The liquid is treated in a waste water treatment facility onsite, feeding produced water back into the operation. The solid waste is distributed to local farms as an input to the agricultural process.

The system uses every part of the waste to divert use of natural gas and domestic water, while diverting waste to landfills and reducing GHG emissions.

Inspiration

The company's founders are driven by the belief that sustainable business can be profitable. They opted to focus on the problem of waste. Our society produces excess waste due to poor management of resources. They used their combined expertise in waste, energy and water treatment to identify inefficiencies in waste management systems across the globe.

Their goal is to extract all possible use out of what we think of as garbage. However, “garbage” has a wide range of definitions from one country to another. To understand how a municipality treats waste, they work closely with multiple stakeholders including governments, private contracts and the public. Their systems are not cheap, so their projects require buy-in across all stakeholders. Each project is customized to the municipality, the type of waste generated, and the desired outputs.

The company is committed to providing value to stakeholders through cost-savings. Bio-gas and produced water from the system provide cost savings to the plant’s operations, and agricultural feed generates revenue, justify the upfront cost of their system. Their goal is not only to eliminate waste, but to change our society’s perception of waste. They view waste as a fuel and are driven to prove their case project after project, across the world.

Overall impact

The business case for the innovation is operational cost savings. They argue that the capital cost of their system is close to that of a conventional waste treatment system. The system is designed to separate waste into its three states: solid, liquid and gas.

Gas

As discussed, organic waste naturally biodegrades, producing methane as a by-product. Methane has much higher heat-carrying capacity than carbon dioxide and does more damage from a climate change perspective. The anaerobic digestion component of the system generates bio-gas. Either the bio-gas is used to fuel the existing system, reducing costs, or it is sold, generating revenue. Regardless, the process ensures that the bio-gas is used rather than vented into the atmosphere, helping the planet while helping profit.

Liquid

The system separates liquid and solid components of waste such that they are usable. As a liquid slurry, organic waste has no value. Treated water is by no means drinkable, but it is perfectly acceptable for re-use within the system. In arid regions with limited access to water, it is essential for water conservation to be incorporated as pervasively into a city’s infrastructure as possible. By conserving water, their system reduces pressure of domestic water consumption, making it more readily available for the local population.

Solid

Traditionally, farmers have used manure and organics as fertilizer until the advent of industrial fertilizers. While industrial fertilizers are very effective, the process by which they are manufactured consume energy, water and resources and produce emissions and waste. The company’s innovation generates organic fertilizer, reducing reliance on industrial fertilizers and off-setting associated secondary costs and impacts. Simultaneously, it diverts waste from landfills, prolonging its life.

Business benefit

The innovation has led to the construction and delivery of over 1,600 resource recovery plants in 20 countries, across 4 continents. They have employed over 300 people across their 13 offices and 4 factories. Their track record of successful projects are further strengthening their business case. Their growth has allowed them to act on their belief in equal-opportunity employment; They make a conscientious effort to employ minorities and women at all levels of the business, from onsite management to corporate executives. Best of all, they encourage their employees to develop skills and further qualify, growing with the company. They have a strong culture of cooperation and mutual support, for which their employees are loyal to the company, going above and beyond.

Social and environmental benefit

This innovation solves problems without requiring people to change their behavior. The founders understand that while individual action and accountability play a role in achieving the sustainable development goals, businesses and governments have a much greater capacity to have an impact. Governments make commitments to targets to combat climate change at global climate summits, such as Paris, creating a demand for innovation which help achieve these targets. They rely on businesses to provide mechanisms to achieve their goals through technological, operational and social innovations.

The company recognizes the demand for efficiency in infrastructure. They have taken it upon themselves to develop technology aligned with triple-bottom-line thinking, using long-term thinking. They designed their business model around their technology to make it as appealing as possible to all stakeholders. Their business model makes sustainability profitable while reducing impacts without requiring people to adapt their habits. They effectively make cities more sustainable by reducing GHG’s, re-using resources with no inconvenience, while generating a profit.

This does more than merely divert waste and generate gas. It has ripple effects, opening the minds of leaders and decisions makers about the world of possibilities.

Interview

Ashwani Kumar, Vice President, Global Operations and Business Development