WAI Environmental Solutions waste treatment for the circular economy

Organic waste is piling up in urban and rural areas in countries on every continent. Sewage, contaminated soil and waste from agriculture and aquaculture are difficult to handle and treat for public authorities and private businesses alike.

Untreated waste streams can create greenhouse gas emissions and runoff to rivers, lakes and oceans. They may also cause valuable resources – such as phosphorus, which can be used in fertiliser – to be wasted rather than recovered and reused.

Sustainable ways to deal with waste streams are thus a necessity to avoid causing grave harm to the environment.

WAI Environmental Solutions uses pyrolysis technology – that is, decomposition through high temperatures – to treat bio-sludge, organic waste streams and digestate from anaerobic digesters.

Organic waste that is prepared and dried with the company’s belt drying solution can be fed into its pyrolysis plant to produce synthesis gas, bio-oil, aquatic liquid and biochar. All these products are valuable for biogas production and agriculture.

Biochar produced by pyrolysis is moreover an important source of phosphorus recovery. The solution can thus assist in nutrient recovery for municipalities, agriculture, aquaculture and other industries.

Additionally, biochar can be used for pyrolysis carbon capture and storage, abbreviated PyCCS. PyCSS is a negative emission technology, meaning it not only supports the circular economy, but also removes greenhouses gases directly.

WAI Environmental Solutions enables public authorities and private businesses to process organic waste streams for resource recovery and reuse. This produces valuable resources while at the same time significantly lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

The company’s solutions allow waste streams to be treated rather than disposed in landfills, saving space and removing environmental hazards caused by landfills.

A sustainable circular economy can be built on recovering local organic waste streams, producing biogas for local transportation, bio-oil for energy production, and biochar for soil conditioning or industrial applications. Using PyCSS can even create negative emissions.

WAI’s primary markets are Norway and Europe. The company’s solutions for belt drying and pyrolysis of organic waste streams are in full industrial-scale operation in China and Europe.

Founded in 2017, WAI Environmental Solutions is headquartered in Norway, with a subsidiary in Weifang, Shandong, China. The company has pilot pyrolysis reactor in Norway where customers can test the technology on their waste streams and analyse the biochar, synthesis gas, bio-oil and aquatic liquid produced.