Don't Waste That Food, Make Fertilizer Out Of It

Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island have already done it. Ontario announced plans to do it in 2022.

Banning organic waste from landfills that is. Canadians throw a lot of food away — approximately 20% of what is produced, according to some reports — creating harmful methane emissions along the way.

One Ontario-based company says it wants to take that waste and, instead of simply allowing it to be thrown away to rot in landfills and produce greenhouse gasses, recycle it to make regenerative products such as fertilizers as part of diversion and climate change initiative.

SusGlobal Energy Corp. SNRG reports developing a second facility in Hamilton, Ontario, that includes a permit to do just that — a so-called Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA). 

The company says the ECA allows SusGlobal to process up to 65,884 metric tons of organic waste annually into regenerative products at the Hamilton site, which is expected to be fully operational by the fourth quarter of this year. The development of the company’s Hamilton site, where SusGlobal fully owns the real estate, follows its first facility in Belleville in its home province which sits on 49 acres of company owned land.

Big Plans?

The plans for the Hamilton site are ambitious. The company estimates an annual revenue run rate of over $105 million starting in 2023 based on 12,000 metric tons of organic waste processing, equivalent to almost 20% of the ECA capacity in the first 12 months of processing.

“We have confidence in a revenue ramp up this year," SusGlobal Executive Chairman, President and CEO Marc Hazout said on the release of quarterly results in May. "Our goal is to complete the acquisition strategy and have our second facility commence the commercialization of our proprietary organic liquid fertilizer in order to increase revenue and cash flow.”

SusGlobal reported revenue of $144,470 in the first quarter of 2022. The company also discussed plans at the release of its recent results to acquire a soil media, plant nutrients and amendments producer approved for organic use upon uplisting and monetizing its carbon credits, both in the third quarter.

SusGlobal, which is eyeing Florida and California as states for potential operating sites, is a proponent of the circular economy, aiming to be a leader in it. 

The idea is to take the waste and convert it into regenerative products such as the company’s award winning pathogen-free organic liquid fertilizer. Such products are available in big retailers such as Home Depot Inc. HD and Lowe’s Cos. Inc. LOW.

The organic fertilizer market’s compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is estimated to be 11.2% through 2026.

Featured photo by Anita Jankovic on Unsplash

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