From waste to wealth in 24 hours

MANILA, Philippines - A Singaporean biotechnology firm has developed a revolutionary way of converting massive waste generated by the livestock industry and throwaways from coconut, sugar and other crops into premium organic fertilizer in just 24 hours, offering a practical solution to the waste problems of agribusiness enterprises.

The biotech breakthrough, announced by Biomax Technologies Pte Ltd, uses a specially designed digester into which any kind of farm or animal waste is mixed with various beneficial bacteria and together heated at a certain temperature range to produce high-grade organic fertilizer in one day.

The technology works by combining the company’s spe-cially designed Bio-max Rapid Thermo-philic Digester and BM1. BM1 is a natu-ral cocktail of at least 10 different friendly bacteria with high heat tolerance. They act together as po-werful enzymes. 

At their normal condition, the benefi-cial microorganisms look very ordinary, appearing like grey silica sand used in construction. But if combined with any type of farm waste into the digester and the mixture is heated at between 70°C and 80°C, the enzymes, which include proteinese, keratinase, lipase, cellulose and other ingredients, accelerate the decomposition and fermentation process.

With this technology, organic waste is converted into 100-percent pure, solid organic fertilizer in 24 hours. The organic fertilizer product is of good quality, odorless, and free of pathogens. It can provide nutrients and food for both plants and soil, thus offering additional income for farmers and other agribusiness entrepreneurs.

It is a revolutionary approach to the traditional and tedious method of composting as practiced by farmers in developing countries. For this procedure, they gather and dump farm waste into a large pit, mix some ingredients, allow it to decay, and wait from three to six months to obtain a compost.

“Our new technology is a product of almost five years of research and development which we believe will have far reaching implication in the way countries handle solid waste to protect human health and the environment,” Biomax chairman Sim Eng Tong told this writer during a recent plant visit to Singapore.

Biomax technology can turn practically all organic waste into fertilizer, the 57-year old CEO said. The end product is pure organic fertilizer rich in NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) and low in carbon/nitrogen ratio that helps restore soil structure and fertility.

Because it operates in a closed and controlled system, it eliminates offensive odor during the digestion process which causes pest buildup, pollution and diseases and other health and environmental risks if the procedure were done in the open. 

In Indonesia, he claims his company has done work where organic fertilizer is produced quickly out of palm oil waste from empty fruit bunch and sludge.

In Malaysia, rich organic soil and plant nutrients are derived from chicken dung as well as entrails, heads and feathers from poultry dressing plants. In Singapore, fertilizer is produced from vegetable and fruit waste. In Dubai, even human waste sludge serves as the raw material. 

When a Biomax executive, Yong Ching Seng, visited the Philippines last week to attend the recently conducted Philippine-Singapore Business Forum, local company officials immediately drew strong interest in his firm’s technology especially from the poultry, coconut and sugar industries.

Interviewed while in Manila, Ching Seng said the coco coir business generates tons of underutilized coco peat while dumps of biomass from sugar refineries are often left in the open air to decay, due to lack of practical and profitable way to dispose the waste and turn them to wealth.

“There is a very wide application of our technology for the Philippines to benefit from,” Yong, with email address at ycs.biomaxtech.com, said. “We are willing to share it in the context of mutual assistance and regional cooperation because our countries are part of ASEAN.”

Biomax requires only a small area to do the job. It operates with great speed to produce organic fertilizer, and consumes low energy, giving it high marks in terms of profit potential.

The Biomax digester can run on electricity or on boiler fueled by LPG or from diesel, or from indigenous energy whichever is locally available and most cost-efficient.

Tong, who used to be an agricultural commodities trader, said his company’s biotech innovation was his own brainchild, adding it was developed with the help of some of China’s and Singapore’s renowned microbiologists and engineers.

It was borne, he said, from long years of having been in the business of exporting fresh, frozen and dry farm products to Europe. In the course of his business operation, he witnessed how volumes of waste are produced during delivery, packaging, handling and felt a compelling desire to find a solution to the problem.

“My conscience bothered me with all the waste I generate,” Tong said. “At some point in time, I realized I need to contribute something for the protection of the environment, and for the world we all live in.”

For more details, log on to www.biomaxtech.com.