Zero waste circular economy: closing the gap

teCH4+ patented technology converts waste into biogas and an organic fertilizer, closing the circular economy loop and tackling world priorities such as water sanitation, renewable energy and climate change. The validated business model, based on selling turnkey plants, is highly scalable because of the standard plant sizes and the modular plug & play approach.

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teCH4+ patented technology converts organic wastes (e.g. sewage sludge) into a biogas that displaces fossil fuels and an organic fertilizer that closes the circular economy loop. Its impact is massive as it tackles key UN priorities such as water sanitation, renewable energy, smart cities and climate change.

Our validated business model is based on selling turnkey plants and it is highly scalable because we use standard plant sizes and a modular plug and play approach.

We are ready to sell, but the feedback we get from potential clients is that before they buy they want to see a real installation. To overcome this limitation we need to build a demo plant that we can showcase to our clients. Hopefully the Venture Competition can help us with that and be the stepping stone we need to reach full commercialization.

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Get in touch

CONTACT

Diego F. Polanco
dfpolanco@tech4plus.com
+34 628 225537
www.tech4plus.com

Trash to cash: How SWESTEP gives plastic waste a new life

Posts 09 Oct 2017

People all over the world are throwing out large quantities of plastic each year, representing a huge sustainability issue. SWESTEP aims to address this by converting household plastic waste into sustainable oil and new plastic raw materials.

Over the past year, the Swedish green tech company has been working closely with Climate-KIC and the City of Copenhagen to carry out a feasibility study on the conversion of plastic waste to new sustainable oil. Since being established in 2012, SWESTEP has been developing an industrial process capable of turning all hydrocarbon-based waste and residues, such as plastic, into renewable fractions. In practical terms, this means that any organic waste stream can be considered as a feedstock, and duly be transformed into a wide range of renewable fuels or useful sustainable liquids and materials to be used again.

In theory, this process could have huge implications for how we deal with plastics, as well as waste management in general, as it could lead to the establishment of major circular economy loops into a city’s ecosystem, provide new sources of renewable energy, and create new revenues and jobs—effectively converting what was previously considered waste into a resource. One key aspect of SWESTEP’s technology is that the feedstock doesn’t require separating prior to processing, meaning mixed waste streams are just as effectively processed as sorted ones. This contrasts wildly with the status quo, in which mixed waste streams require appropriately sorting before the separate elements can be recycled.

Creating industrial inputs from waste plastic for industries that typically require fossil-based fuels or petrochemicals for major parts of their operations doesn’t just represent a welcome remedy to the problem of municipal waste, it also embodies potential to reduce the consumption of fossil-fuels and thus, contributes to climate change mitigation.

Given what was on offer, it’s easy to understand why Copenhagen was interested in a potential collaboration. Per Boesgaard, coordinator of the city’s Climate Plan 2025, had this to say:

“Waste management, and particularly plastic waste management, has represented a huge problem for the city for a long time. Plastic is now a large part of people’s daily lives, yet it represents a huge environmental problem with regards to both the consequences of its disposal and its carbon footprint.

Our challenge [as the City of Copenhagen] is to manage this problem holistically, which means solving the environmental issues without disrupting the day-to-day of our citizens. Thus, participating in projects such as this and collaborating with pioneering companies like SWESTEP to investigate the potential of their technology is both necessary and exciting for us as a city. We are very pleased with the outcome of this project and look forward to working more with SWESTEP and Climate-KIC in the future”.

In July 2016, the City of Copenhagen, SWESTEP, NISA, Copenhagen Airports, and other partners, took part in “Trash to Cash” a Climate-KIC Pathfinder project aiming to confirm if their “turnkey technology” can make a positive impact to the city’s plastic waste challenge. After testing the process on a batch composed of plastic and biomass, the feasibility study confirmed that both the feedstock, the technology, and the process were viable. Karl-Magnus, CEO of SWESTEP, had this to say about the process:

“I am delighted with the results because we can now show that SWESTEP can use our process to recycle a mixed organic MSW feedstock that includes plastics. We already are planning for further tests on other special feedstocks to evaluate their economic potential.

The outputs of the process can be used as an environmentally sound substitute for fossil fuels and thus, the municipality waste can end up being recycled into a whole range of things, such as new textiles, new plastics, medicines, renewable diesel, and jet-fuel. I am also proud that we have proved we can make a difference in waste management processes whilst also being an asset to the energy sector. Through our process, we can create new jobs, new industries, and new revenue streams for the city municipalities—all in an environmentally and climate-friendly way”.

Martin Poesgaard, Director of NISA, the Nordic Initiative for Sustainable Aviation is optimistic about the process: “With the results of this feasibility study we can see that it is possible to convert the waste plastic residues to a new oil. We [at NISA] find it quite remarkable as it occurs at relatively low temperature and without pressure setting. Our hope is that the oil produced can be further processed into a sustainable jet fuel as if possible, this could represent a major breakthrough in our efforts to make the aviation industry more sustainable”

SWESTEP will now proceed with additional documentation and analysis of the technology and the end products. Now, the goal is to find industrial partners and investors as well as involvement from the public and the government. SWESTEP is very optimistic about this and sees the solution as an important and low-cost contribution to the circular economy and environmental improvements.

Trash to Cash was a Pathfinder project funded by Climate-KIC’s Innovation Pipeline. Aimed at Climate-KIC partners, Pathfinder projects help innovators test, refine and confirm assumptions about their innovation ideas, so that they are suitably developed to be applied and implemented. They typically last between three to six months, and can receive funding from Climate-KIC up to a maximum grant of €50,000. If you would like to know more about Trash to Cash project, please contact Peter.Vangsbo@climate-kic.org.

Berlin Climathon: waste reduction and sustainable mobility

In The News 17 Nov 2016

Berlin is often cited as one of Europe’s cleanest cities: but that doesn’t mean that there is not plenty of work that needs to be done in order to make the German capital more climate friendly.

In Berlin, the Climathon challenges focused on waste and transportation, both of which are common global issues that largely contribute to pollution. In Berlin, there are six different fractions of waste at household level- recovered paper, glass waste, recyclable fraction (plastics, metals and composite packaging etc.) biowaste and residual waste. While the quality of recycling is good, the way that it is collected is far from being sustainable; with six different kinds of waste, there are six different kinds of bins and six different vehicles that are required to pick up one one.

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On top of this, these vehicles will barely be on the street at the same time, as tours and working hours differ, and certain types of waste (such as paper and glass) are recycled privately, meaning that there are numerous waste companies circulating around Berlin at any one time. 

Together with our four main delivery partners, BSR (Berlin utilities), Veolia Germany, CHORA City & Energy and ZTG of the Technical University of Berlin, and Berlin Partner, the event kicked-off at 10:00 on the 28 October 2016 with an official introduction to the challenge areas. Throughout the event, three coaches were present and facilitated the teams in terms of skills training and team formation. They also made sure that the energy level remained high by integrating frequent energisers and out-of-the-building activities like a campus tour or a gymnastics/yoga session. In addition to this, more experts joined for various time-slots until after midnight in order to provide further thematic expertise and be available for content questions. After lunch on the first day, seven teams were formed and ready to start developing their own idea. At midnight it was time for the first (peer-to-peer) pitch in front of the other teams, the coaches, experts and the local Climathon team. Luckily, all participants stayed during the night and worked hard in their rooms apart from having short and well deserved power naps. After breakfast and some fresh cups of coffee or chai tea, it was time to rehearse the pitches and getting ready for the final presentations. Seven experts from the challenge area and from local Climate-KIC staff were present to give their individual feedback. 

While there was no official winner announced at the end of the 24hours, BSR have invited teams back to make further pitches in front of internal company experts at the end of this month, so that ideas can be fully implemented in the future. 

The Solutions

Meet the teams 

SBA- See-Believe-Act

One of the ways to secure a better future for the planet is to educate the young on how to be more sustainable. Team SBA have proposed creating an engagement programme for secondary school children. Within this programme, there will be a mentoring programme included that will implement the circular economy system at school. This will hopefully lead to a ‘zero-waste school’, which will in turn encourage more children to be less wasteful and more environmentally friendly for life. 

The Wasters

Perhaps the transport and logistics of waste collection would be improved if the bins had a ‘heber’ or lifting system built within them? And maybe an underground bin system could be implemented within each quarter; not only could this reduce traffic, but it would also serve a community function with someone who would consult and support local residents in being more sustainable. 

The Expendables 

No matter how full or empty your trash can is, the collection for it will come regardless. This means that even though your trash can may have plenty of room in it to last for another week, the waste disposal team will continue to release more emissions into the environment and waste time collecting it. However, according to The Expendables, what would fix this issue would be if bins used a sensor technique to determine how full or empty they are, which would allow waste management companies to arrange pick up times for them to save time and improve logistics, as well as reducing the amount of  emissions that they release. 

Perfect Trash 

A bit like The Expendables, Perfect Trash has identified that one of the issues with waste collection is that bins are being collected regardless of how full they are. Perfect Trash also recognised that other issues with waste collection is that bins are very noisy and the routes can take a very long time to complete due to surrounding traffic and obstacles. The team propose that bins should be redesigned to make them quieter, and they should come with an ‘on demand’ pick up system so that half empty bins can be avoided. Further to this, the team feel as though trees should act as barriers for more traffic; this will increase the speed of waste pick up as it will allow services to avoid parked cars and bins will have a clear space to be collected from. 

Move A BIT

Trying to get people out of private cars and onto bikes can be tricky, especially when they are stuck in their old habits. Move A BIT plan on making a bike hub and cycling app for the 50+ generation as a social innovation project to foster use of bikes in the city. 

MOaskateer

Team MOaskateer think that one way of encouraging more people to use bikes would be to create an interactive platform community that will hold regular competitions and learning workshops to promote the benefits of cycling. The platform would also have a reward system to support local retailers. 

Kommuting Koalas 

Sometimes, riding your bike to work can take a long time, which will inevitably put people off of doing it. But, Kommuting Koalas propose a more streamlined journey when you book your bike to work as an extension of the current NextBike app, this would be a seamless integration of public transport and bike sharing. 

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Good Practices Circular Economy

Good Practices

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This section includes relevant practices, innovative processes and 'learning from experience' examples. All information is provided by the stakeholders themselves who remain responsible for accuracy and veracity of the content.

To submit your own Good Practice, please complete this form.
Please note that the publication of Good Practices on this website depends on their relevance to the circular economy, completeness and clarity of information, practical character of expected results, awareness-raising and educational components. Texts and content submitted to the site may be edited for the purpose of clarity and compliance to standardised presentation on the website.  For further information, please contact our Secretariat.
Wondering how we select good practices for actual publication on the website? You can check our guidelines here.

Displaying 1 - 6 of 6

https://www.wiltz.lu

Wiltz - a Circular Economy Hotspot in the heart of Ardennes

Organisation or Company: 

Wiltz Municipality

Type of organisation or company:

• Local authority

Country: 

Luxembourg

Language for original content:

• French
• German

Key Area:

• Production
• Waste Management
• Innovation and investments

Sector:

• Construction (general)
• Ecodesign
• Education
• Public services
• Recycling
• Social Enterprise
• Sustainable development
• Urban development

In October 2015 the Luxembourg government named the municipality of Wiltz a Circular Economy Hotspot.  In February 2018 Wiltz renewed its political commitment with a Circular Economy Charter signed by its municipal council, by which it committed itself to mainstreaming circular economy in its future project and activities in order to improve its global footprint on the Ardennes region and to take on its responsibilities towards future generations of citizens.

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http://www.symbiosis.dk/en/

Kalundborg Symbiosis: six decades of a circular approach to production

Organisation or Company: 

Kalundborg Symbiosis

More case studies from this organisation or company

Type of organisation or company:

• Public-private partnership

Country: 

Denmark

Language for original content:

• English

Key Area:

• Production
• Waste Management
• Secondary raw materials
• Innovation and investments

Sector:

• Chemicals
• Fertiliser
• Pharmaceuticals
• Power and utilities
• Recycling
• Refineries
• Repair, reuse, refurbish
• Sustainable development

Kalundborg Symbiosis is a partnership between nine public and private companies in Kalundborg, Denmark.

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http://www.ks.no/avfall

Do we have waste in 2030? - The role of municipalities in the transition to a circular economy

Organisation or Company: 

The Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities

Type of organisation or company:

• National authority
• Regional authority
• Local authority
• Network of local and/or regional authorities
• Public service

Country: 

Other (Norway)

Language for original content:

• Other (Norwegian)

Key Area:

• Waste Management
• Secondary raw materials
• Innovation and investments

Sector:

• Education
• Public procurement
• Public services
• Recycling
• Sustainable development
• Urban development

The purpose of the project has been to highlight the possibilities the municipalities and regions have to accommodate a more circular economy in the future.

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https://www.switchmed.eu/en/corners/civil-society

SwitchMed Civil Society Programme

Organisation or Company: 

Regional Activity Center for Sustainable Consumption and Production

Type of organisation or company:

• Regional authority

Country: 

Other (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia)

Language for original content:

• English
• French

Key Area:

• Production
• Consumption
• Waste Management
• Innovation and investments

Sector:

• Agriculture
• Bio-based industries
• Electronics
• Fertiliser
• Food and Drinks
• Forest-based industries
• Home furnishing
• Machinery and Equipment
• Packaging
• Personal and household services
• Plastics and rubber
• Power and utilities
• Recycling
• Textiles, apparel and leather
• Transport
• Urban development

EU-funded SwitchMed Programme supports and connects stakeholders to scale-up social and eco-innovations in the Mediterranean. It promotes inclusive growth, job creation and sustainable development by supporting policy makers, eco-innovative small and medium sized enterprises, industries, start-ups and entrepreneurs in the Southern Mediterranean countries.

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https://www.surfrider.eu/en/a-best-practices-guide-to-ban-single-use-plastic-bag...

Banning Single-Use Plastic Bags: Good practices Guide for Local Authorities

Organisation or Company: 

Surfrider Foundation Europe

Type of organisation or company:

• NGO or network of NGOs

Country: 

France

Language for original content:

• English
• French
• German

Key Area:

• Consumption
• Waste Management

Sector:

• Education
• Packaging
• Recycling
• Sustainable development

8 billion plastic bags end up in the environment in Europe every year. They have dramatic impacts on the environment, and especially on marine ecosystems, killing every year thousands of marine animals, and affecting no less than 260 different species.

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http://www.referentiel-elipse-eit.org/

ELIPSE : le référentiel pour l'évaluation des performances des démarches d'écologie industrielle et territoriale (EIT)

Organisation or Company: 

ORÉE

Type of organisation or company:

• Multi-stakeholders association

Country: 

France

Language for original content:

• French

Key Area:

• Waste Management

Sector:

• Sustainable development

Le référentiel ELIPSE est un outil qui permet d’assurer l’évaluation et le suivi des démarches d’écologie industrielle et territoriale (EIT).

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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6