Breakthrough for efficient and environmentally friendly composting technology

Sundsvallsföretaget Biocompost erbjuder en teknik där organiska restprodukter omvandlas till prima kompostjord.

Biocompost, a company from Sundsvall offers a technology where organic residues are converted into prime compost soil.

The waste is fed into an automated compost drum that spins 240 laps per day. After only three to five days, the material comes out in powder form, which can be compared to traditional composting which takes five to nine months.

- We must become better at refining our biological waste so that it is returnes to nature in an environmentally friendly and efficient way. Biocompost wants to be involved in influencing the view of composting and that we, together with end users of soil products, can find new areas of use and contribute to refining the biological waste generated by our basic industry, says Thomas Storsjö, CEO of Biocompost AB.

Now Biocompost has received its first major order. In the spring of 2021, an 18-meter-long drum will be manufactured for the recycling company Ragn-Sells, which will be commissioned at their facility in Umeå.

- This is a first important recognition after several years of hard work. In addition to the agreement with Ragn-Sells, we also have far-reaching discussions with several other customers, both in Sweden and abroad. We believe in strong growth in the coming years, says Thomas Storsjö.

The drum has a capacity of 30 cubic meters per day and will be used for sludge from the process industry. It is estimated to handle approximately 5,000 tonnes of sludge per year.

- We have had a superb collaboration with Biocompost ever since they became part of the forest accelerator in 2019. At an early stage, we had the opportunity to help in the development through Processum's R&D council and we have just started another interesting such collaboration. That they are now making this first important deal with one of our member companies, Ragn-Sells, in our region is extra exciting. This is completely in line with our own goals as it also meets one of the major challenges of our membership cluster; namely value creation of the forest industry residual flows, says Gunnar Westin business developer at RISE Processum

Marcus Åberg, market area manager at Ragn-Sells, sees several advantages with the solution,

- Because the composting in the drum goes so much faster, we save time. We also need significantly less space for storage and less mechanical handling, which results in less dirt. But the biggest advantage is that greenhouse gas emissions will be lower.

Ragn-Sells also plans to take advantage of the heat generated during composting. The plan is for the drum to be in operation in June.

- If it turns out well, we will invest in more compost drums, says Marcus Åberg.

Biocompost is also one of the startup companies that have participated in BizMaker's Forest Business Accelerator program. During the year, the company was able to theoretically test and verify its method on the accelerator's partners SCA, IBM and RISE Processum.