ECONWARD
ECONWARD was founded in 2009 with the goal of creating a one-of a kind technology that transforms contaminated organic fractions into versatile biomass which serves as the ideal feedstock for anaerobic digestion processes.
The North American headquarters is in Santa Monica, California, and the Global Headquarters is in Madrid, Spain. The company is committed to being actively involved in improving the sustainability of the planet and using technology innovation as the main driver of change. Joe Ayala, Chief Operating Officer notes that “The company is heavily focused on research and development. ECONWARD annually invests more than 80% of their resources in R&D.”
ECONWARD’s NOWON waste-to-value system transforms contaminated organic waste, such as municipal solids waste (MSW), residential organics, and materials recovery facility (MRF) fines, into a high-quality biomass for biogas plants to produce high quality biomethane and a pathogen-free digestate.
The core technology of the system is the patented technology BIOMAK® which applies a thermal hydrolysis process using pressure and temperature to homogenize and sanitize municipal solid waste. The semi-continuous process delivers energy savings and increased processing capacity.
Unlike other pre-treatment systems, the BIOMAK® can recover 95% of organics from mixed waste streams. For applications with biogas systems, this is the only technology on the market that can decontaminate MSW, MRF fines, and SSO at such a high rate to create a feedstock for anaerobic digestion.
Benefits of pre-treating organic waste with the BIOMAK include reduced retention time to only 15 days, 30% increased treatment capacity, and a 25% boost in biogas generation. These results have been confirmed at the full-scale industrial size facility in Spain, in the outskirts of Madrid. For over three years, the plant has been operating, processing up to 150 tons of waste per day from the Spanish capital. The company has also recently sold a unit in the UK and is in discussions with cities and landfill owners in Canada.
For the future of biogas, Ayala thinks “There is enormous potential. So many new biogas systems are being built every year and there is so much food waste in MSW and that methane needs to be captured.”
ECONWARD joined the CBA as members because they see the importance of assessing the Canadian market and developing business here. Joe Ayala and the ECONWARD team will be present at the Value of Biogas West Conference October 7-9 in Vancouver BC, both as Exhibitors and speaking on the program, and look forward to creating more connections with the industry.
