Supplier News

DOD to remove PFAS from naval base

The National Defense Center for Energy & Environment, established to help transition technology solutions and meet sustainability goals in support of the Department of Defense (DOD), awarded the Durham, North Carolina-based cleantech company 374Water a contract to use its supercritical water oxidation (AirSCWO) technology at U.S. Naval installations. The goal is to eliminate per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from the environment. Terms of the partnership were not disclosed.

“I think the industry has realized that when you incinerate materials that contain PFAS, the elimination is not even close to complete,” says 374Water CEO Kobe Nagar. “We are a big believer [in a] decentralized approach when you treat waste, processing it where it’s being generated compared [with] moving it to a central location that is, in most cases, penalizing a disadvantaged community that is [located] next to [the processing plants],” he adds.

AirSCWO is a physical-thermal process powered by supercritical water, which is water above its critical point (374 degrees Celsius and 221 bar), and air that yields an effective oxidation reaction that eliminates organic compounds.

Using a 40-foot container that operates on-site, the material is pumped continuously through a reactor that gets superheated. The material then gets separated into a gas and liquid.

The company captures the heat from the process and recirculates it to heat the inlet streams that go to the reactor, making the process self-sustaining.

On the back end, the remaining heat separates and evaporates some of the water into high-pressure gases, which are run through an expander to make electricity that can power equipment.

Nagar says one container can process 6 metric tons of waste per day.

The process can remove almost 100 percent of PFAS contaminants and results in nitrogen, carbon dioxide and distilled or mineral-rich water as byproducts of the process, the company says.

“What we have done is use that technology that can take any type of organic waste and mineralize it in one step in creating clean water, energy and minerals from basically any type of waste,” Nagar says.

This project is part of a broader initiative by the DOD to identify viable PFAS destruction solutions for deployment on military bases.

Waga invests in future of landfill gas

Waga Energy, a provider of landfill conversion technology, has announced that it will move to an 80,000-square-foot building in Eybens, near Grenoble, France, later this year.

“Waga Energy’s ambition is to position the site as an international center for excellence in cryogenic technology and the production of renewable natural gas (RNG) and other renewable gases,” the company says in a news release announcing its new headquarters.

Waga says it will move into the three-story building in February after completing its purchase of the building in November of last year.

Waga Energy says its employee headcount has grown by 75 since its October 2021 initial public offering. Around 60 of the new hires are in the Grenoble area, where the company has been headquartered since 2020 in a 9,000-square-foot building. Waga Energy now employs 150 people worldwide, with around 120 in France.

“The new building will provide us with much-needed space to move toward our target of building 100 RNG production units worldwide by 2026 to put a significant dent in global greenhouse gas emissions,” Nicolas Paget, chief operating officer of Waga Energy says.

The company plans to use more than half of the new building, which was formerly occupied by Hewlett-Packard, as office space (including subleasing a portion). It will use the remainder as warehouse space for its spare parts inventory. The new building sits on a parcel of land that offers room to temporarily store large equipment before it is transported to landfills for installation.

“The project [purchase price plus renovation costs] represents an investment of 10 million euros ($10.45 million),” the company says. Waga Energy is working with the French banks BNP Paribas, Banque Populaire Auvergne Rhône Alpes, Crédit Agricole Sud Rhône Alpes and Caisse d’Épargne Rhône-Alpes for financing.

Founded in 2015, Waga Energy, which has North American offices in Pennsylvania and Quebec, is a developer of gas purification technology that upgrades landfill gas into RNG. The company says it has commissioned 14 of its Wagabox landfill gas upgrading units in France. Fifteen additional units are under construction for installation in France, Spain, Canada and the United States.

WasteLinq acquires BlazeIT

WasteLinq Inc., an environmental services company, has announced its acquisition of BlazeIT, a Cypress, Texas-based provider of business software, automation solutions and technology consulting.

In a December 2022 news release announcing the acquisition, WasteLinq Vice President of Sales and Business Development Sean Easton says, “We believe that the environmental services industry should be connected, simple and transparent. The BlazeIT team will allow our clients to integrate their business software packages with our industry-leading supply chain optimization tool to create a truly digital workflow.”

This represents the Houston-based company’s second acquisition in 2022, coming on the heels of its purchase of EnviroWare and Terralink waste management platforms in November.

“We’re excited about creating capacity and value across the environmental services marketplace,” says Ken Odom, chief financial officer of WasteLinq.

BlazeIT is an award-winning business software partner that specializes in helping businesses understand, implement and use software solutions.

“Our team understands that software should make business better and finding information easier,” BlazeIT founder Renee Fodde says. “We have built a strong practice helping businesses move to modern business software, and we are thrilled to leverage that expertise with WasteLinq’s suite of products and technology-enabled services.”

Sims add RecycleOS robots to Brooklyn MRF

EverestLabs, a Fremont, California-based developer of an artificial intelligence- (AI-) enabled operating system for recycling, has signed a contract to install up to eight RecycleOS-powered robotics cells at the Sims Municipal Recycling (SMR) Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in Brooklyn, New York.

With four robotics cells installed in spring 2022 and additional units being planned in the coming months, North America’s largest commingled recycling facility is experiencing significant cost savings and increased materials recovery, according to EverestLabs.

New York City operates the largest curbside recycling program in the United States. As a result, SMR processes more than 300,000 tons of glass, metal and plastic generated in New York and several other municipalities in the metro region each year. New York-based SMR is the processor of 100 percent of the metal, glass and plastic and 50 percent of the paper collected by the NYC Department of Sanitation throughout the five boroughs. For SMR, this means speed, efficiency and accuracy when picking and recovering recycled materials are essential.

EverestLabs says its robotics cells and RecycleOS technology will improve SMR’s overall materials recovery, help address the current labor shortage by augmenting human sorters and deliver actionable data that SMR can share among MRF operators, consumer packaged goods companies and packaging manufacturers.

With what it calls the smallest robotics cell footprint in the industry, EverestLabs’ robots can be installed on incline belts where it’s difficult for workers to recover materials. SMR has two robotics cells installed on its high-speed inclined belt that can increase the efficiency and accuracy of material recovery, the supplier says.

“EverestLabs’ RecycleOS is a critical technology for SMR to effectively recover recyclable materials from the New York metropolitan area,” SMR General Manager Tom Ferretti says. “These installations allow us and our partners to stay committed to sustainability while also saving us on costs and [enabling us to] move SMR’s key personnel into higher priority positions across the plant.”

Casella introduces its first electric refuse vehicle in Vermont

Casella Waste Systems Inc., Rutland, Vermont, has introduced its Mack LR Electric refuse truck, which it says is both the first in its fleet and the first of its kind in the state.

Casella introduced the vehicle in a ceremony at the Killington Grand Hotel in front of more than 100 onlookers, including local and state representatives, local business leaders, customers, employees and more.

“The state of Vermont continues to be a leader in electrifying the transportation sector, and I truly believe it’s the future,” Vermont Gov. Phil Scott says. “It takes committed partners in the private sector, like Casella, to step up, as well.”

By switching one truck from diesel to electric, the company says it expects to conserve more than 7,500 gallons of diesel fuel per year.

Because the fleet will be charging with 100-percent-carbon-free electricity, Casella says it expects to eliminate more than 78 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year.

Casella says the Mack LR Electric will be used on residential routes in the Rutland region. It was funded in part with a grant from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation’s Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust. The company says it believes that Vermont will provide the right proving ground for the pilot program, testing against the state’s mountainous terrain and cold winters.

“The opportunity to pilot the Mack LR Electric in Vermont will help us evaluate whether this is a viable option in other markets that we serve,” CEO John Casella III says.