ImpactAlpha, January 11 — Generate Capital, the San Francisco-based sustainable infrastructure financier and operator, launched Generate Upcycle last year to expand into recycling, composting, wastewater treatment and other waste-to-value solutions.
Generate Upcycle is backing Sedron’s Varcor technology, which uses “mechanical vapor recompression” to treat municipal sewage sludge to produce clean (though non-potable) water and sustainable nitrogen fertilizer, for a new municipal wastewater facility in Sumner, Wash. The facility will use the Varcor system to treat up to 300 million pounds of sewage sludge from the Seattle metropolitan area.
How it works
Varcor’s machine separates sewage sludge liquids from solids. The vapor is compressed to produce water and ammonia which, when converted into ammonium nitrate, can be used as a green nitrogen fertilizer.
The technology lowers disposal costs and “enables liquid waste generators to sustainably manage that material in a way that significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions and simultaneously creates high-value products that can be used in different applications,” Generate’s Bill Caesar told ImpactAlpha.
Upcycling waste
Caesar said the partners are building another wastewater treatment facility under construction near a large dairy farm. “Together, we are helping cities across the U.S. turn sewage into valuable resources through a fully circular process,” said Sedron’s Peter Janicki.
