Deadline: 14-Jan-22
Walker Environmental is seeking solutions to convert biosolids (wastewater residuals) to agricultural fertilizer and/or other beneficial end-products to help Canadian municipalities reduce emissions resulting from biosolids disposal, and provide the agricultural industry with a low carbon non-fossil fuel fertilizers.
As Canada’s largest fully integrated resource recovery company, Walker manages and recovers over 750,000 tonnes of organic waste annually. Through their biosolids management line of business, Walker partners with municipalities to safely manage their communities’ biosolids through facilities in Alberta, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Ontario.
Walker processes over 100,000 tonnes of biosolids annually through their patented N-Viro® process. This process blends alkaline admixtures such as lime with dewatered biosolids and other organic wastes to produce valuable and sustainable agricultural fertilizers called N-Rich® – a pathogen-free farm fertilizer that meets the quality standards of the CFIA and US EPA.
While N-Viro® is an efficient biosolids treatment process, Walker Environmental is looking to expand its technology and process portfolio and thereby expand their biosolids management line of business into new jurisdictions across North America. Ideal technologies would be modular and scalable; and ideal processes would require minimal admixtures.
Why is your company pursuing solutions in this space?
- Biosolids are solid organic matter recovered from the sewage treatment process. Effective management of biosolids serves as a strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by providing renewable energy, reducing use of fossil fuels and energy-intensive fertilizers, and stimulating carbon sequestration in soils. For instance, treated biosolids application to agricultural land reduces reliance on synthetic fertilizer, improves soil holding structure, and raises water holding capacity. By using biosolids in agricultural application, synthesis of commercial fertilizers and associated energy use is avoided.
- Beneficial use of biosolids offset the carbon impact of mining and transporting mineral fertilizers from Russia, Morocco and the United States. In addition to this, beneficial reuse products are sustainable whereas some mineral fertilizers, particularly Phosphorus, are in finite supply and their costs increasing.
- Biosolids not only improves soil chemical and biological fertility but because they contain substantial levels of non-degradable carbon, it can lock up carbon in the soil for longer periods. There is increasing governmental pressure to phase out disposal of biosolids at landfills and to continue to implement strict laws surrounding biosolids handling and disposal.
- Walker Environmental Group Inc. (through N-Viro® Systems Canada Inc) has been sustainably providing biosolids management solutions across Canada for various municipalities since 1996. In 2007, Walker built its first merchant biosolids processing facility in Niagara in partnership with N-Viro® and subsequently purchased N-Viro® Systems Canada Inc. in 2014. Walker, along with the client partners, now process over 100,000 wet tonnes of biosolids annually using the patented N-Viro® Alkaline Stabilization technology at six facilities across Canada. Alkaline stabilization is an accepted method of treating dewatered biosolids to ensure that pathogens are eliminated. Walker is now seeking other promising treatment solutions to procure and expand its footprint into new jurisdictions.
Benefits
- Participation in a high-quality EU programme that seeks to streamline state-of-the-art technologies and sustainable solutions into the Canadian Market;
- Tailored delivery of technical assistance and business coaching to enable Joint Business Concepts (JBCs) between EU SMEs & Canadian Buyers.
- The opportunity to work directly with a Canadian buyer that is actively seeking innovative solutions.
Eligibility Criteria
- All Challenges are fully open to all EU companies who feel they can meet the Buyer Challenge Statement.
- To facilitate purposeful business collaborations between Canadian Buyers and EU Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) and Small/Mid-Caps and Mature-Startups and Micro-Enterprises, that have a distinct positive low-carbon and circular economy environmental impact, are scalable, reflect a sound return on investment, and enable innovative technology transfer and business transactions.
Criteria
- Walker Environmental is seeking modular and scalable solutions to convert biosolids to agricultural fertilizer and/or other beneficial end-products. Solutions can include, but are not limited to thermal conversion, drying, methanization to produce either Class A or Class B biosolids, renewable energy or other beneficial end products.
- Please note that systems that need to be integrated within the wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) will not be considered.
- List of what solutions should have/need to include, solutions that are in scope, as well as any that are out of scope for the challenge.
- Rapid and efficient process-to-product cycle
- End-product must meet quality standards of the CFIA
- Priority application to agricultural markets
- Minimal admixture requirements
For more information, visit https://lcbacanada.com/challenge-archive/biosolids-upcycling-walker/