Seeking another profitable way to reuse or recycle the waste it collects, Waste Management has signed a joint development agreement with green chemicals company Renmatix.
The strategic investment and alliance is a major win for Renmatix, which has developed a hydrolysis process called Plantrose that uses water as a solvent for breaking down non-plant food material into base sugars. The resulting green chemicals are being marketed as a low-cost alternative to petroleum derivatives.
One goal of the agreement is to expand the sorts of feedstocks that can be used for this conversion process. Right now, Plantrose relies primarily on rural biomass but the two companies plan to test the viability of using food scraps, construction and demolition debris, and pulp and paper waste, among other things.
"This collaboration is a continuation of our commitment to extract the value we see in waste and convert it into valuable resources," says William Caesar, President, Waste Management Recycling Services. "We are working with Renmatix to further scale its technology, which has quickly emerged as the lowest-cost conversion method for producing the bio-based sugar intermediates demanded by global markets."
Renmatix, based in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, currently can convert three dry tons of cellulosic biomass to the Plantro sugar on a daily basis. The Waste Management deal also aims to expand that capacity.
Waste Management has made a series of strategic investments in technologies and companies that can help turn the waste it collects into a profitable revenue stream, including an acquisition in 2010 that vastly expanded its composting capabilities.
In February 2011, for example, it signed a similar agreement with Genomatica, which has developed technology that products chemicals from syngas made from municipal solid waste.
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