The Waste Transformers: Turning food waste into valuable resources on-site
Short-circuit energy generation: transforming biodegradable waste into energy and fertiliser
The Waste Transformers began transforming biodegradable waste into energy and fertiliser at an Amsterdam hotspot: the Westergasfabriek, located in a park at a former gas works. Local residents subscribe to the energy produced by the Waste Transformer and the fertiliser makes the park bloom. The company (and partners) guarantee that the energy consumed is 100% local and green. The solution can be applied on-site at any location which produces 600 to 3600 kg of biodegradable waste each day.
Its ‘Business in a Box’ model even provides local jobs in developing countries, with support and training from The Waste Transformers.
One example of this is Sierra Leone. The Waste Transformers, together with local partner Masada Waste Management, are in the process of rolling out 40 Waste Transformers in and around Freetown. The Waste Transformers recently won first prize at the West African Forum for Climate & Clean Energy Financing (WAFCCEF-3) for its 26 million dollar business plan advocating a smart, clean, high-impact approach to resource recovery and energy production.
Further examples of concept transferral:
- Former prison in Bijlmerbajes: The Waste Transformers are helping redevelop the defunct prison into a biowaste-fueled neighbourhood. A prison tower will become a green urban vertical park using fertiliser produced by the Waste Transformer and the neighbourhood's biodegradable waste will be transformed into clean energy.
- Colombia: a town in Colombia is transforming organic waste streams from a large daily city market into local clean energy. The energy powers the market and the fertiliser will be used to grow food by farmers selling their produce there.
- South Africa: the Waste Transformer is currently (co)powering a shopping mall in Cape Town.