Greentech Lead America: Waste Management, a provider of
comprehensive waste management services, has formed a joint development
agreement with Renmatix, a manufacturer of biobased sugar intermediates for
global chemical and fuel markets, to explore the opportunities in converting
consumer waste into sugars for manufacturing bio-based materials.
“This collaboration is a continuation of our commitment
to extract the value we see in waste and convert it into valuable resources,”
said 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 biobased sugar
intermediates demanded by global markets.”
The partnership will expand the feedstock flexibility of
Renmatix’s proprietary Plantrose process beyond rural biomass to include
materials derived from cost-effective and readily available urban waste
material such as that managed by Waste Management.
Plantrose process uses “supercritical” water — state in
which water acts as a solvent –to economically and efficiently deconstruct a
wide range of non-food plant material in a continuous reaction down to the base
sugars that enable a high-volume, low-volatility renewable material.
Renmatix will explore multiple waste streams currently
collected and processed by Waste
Management and its service subsidiaries, including: source-separated
recyclables, food scraps, construction and demolition debris, and pulp and
paper waste. The companies will explore how these materials can be reduced to
sugar and leveraged for production of renewable chemicals and fuels.
“Creating a JDA with Waste Management is an example of
how we are working to extend our technology platform to meet industry demand.
This initiative has the potential to harness post-consumer biomass from urban
communities as a source for cellulosic sugars,” noted Mike Hamilton, CEO of
Renmatix.
“If this approach proves compatible with the Plantrose
process, it effectively expands our basket of available feedstocks and
increases our footprint to serve the market for low-cost petrochemical
alternatives,” Hamilton added.
Waste Management is a leading vendor in the U.S. solid
waste management market, according to a recent market report by Research and
Markets and TechNavio. Other key vendors dominating this market space include
Clean Harbors, Republic Services, Veolia Environmental Services North America,
and Waste Connections.
Solid waste management market in the U.S will grow at a
CAGR of 3.4 percent over the period 2011-2015, according to the report.
editor@greentechlead.com