Turning Sewage Into Carbon Gold: How One Company Transforms 10 Tons of Waste Into 1 Ton of Profit

Every day, cities across the world face the same expensive problem: what to do with sewage waste. Municipal wastewater treatment plants process millions of gallons daily, but the solid waste that remains – called biosolids – has always been a costly burden. Until now.

The $1000 Problem Every City Faces

When you flush your toilet or wash dishes, that water goes through extensive treatment before being released back into the environment. But the solid materials separated during this process create a major challenge for municipalities. These biosolids typically end up in one of two places, both problematic:

Land application as fertilizer – While biosolids contain nutrients, they also concentrate pharmaceuticals, microplastics, heavy metals, and “forever chemicals” (PFAS) that contaminate soil and water
Landfills – When organic material decomposes without oxygen, it creates methane, a greenhouse gas 84 times more potent than CO2

Cities pay hefty fees for both options. Every truck leaving the wastewater treatment plant costs taxpayers money, and as regulations tighten and landfill space shrinks, these costs keep rising.

The Bioforcetech Solution: From Waste to Wealth

San Francisco-based Bioforcetech has developed technology that completely transforms this equation. Their innovative process converts 10 tons of wet biosolids into 1 ton of valuable carbon material called OurCarbon, while destroying harmful contaminants and generating profit instead of costs.

How the Technology Works

The transformation happens through two key steps that work together to create an energy-neutral process:

Step 1: Biological Drying Instead of using massive amounts of external energy to dry biosolids (it takes 10 times more energy to evaporate water than to melt aluminum), Bioforcetech uses nature’s own heating system. Their BioDryer technology harnesses thermophilic bacteria naturally present in biosolids. When given oxygen, these bacteria become active and generate heat – similar to a compost pile.

This biological process reduces energy consumption by 70% compared to traditional drying methods, bringing biosolids from 20% solids to 95% solids using primarily bacterial heat.

Step 2: Pyrolysis Transformation The dried biosolids then undergo pyrolysis – heating to over 650°C in the absence of oxygen. This process:

Breaks down organic matter into syngas (which provides heat for the system)
Creates fixed carbon chains that cannot decompose for thousands of years
Destroys PFAS, pharmaceuticals, and other contaminants completely

The EPA has confirmed that this process reduces PFAS from detectable levels to zero in the final product.

The Revolutionary Economics

The financial transformation is remarkable. Here’s how the economics work:

Traditional approach: Cities pay $100+ per ton to dispose of biosolids
With Bioforcetech: 10 tons of biosolids become 1 ton of OurCarbon
Result: $1000 disposal cost becomes $30 profit share

Cities purchase and operate the system themselves, with Bioforcetech guaranteeing to purchase the OurCarbon output and sharing profits back to the municipality.

What Makes OurCarbon Valuable

The end product, OurCarbon, serves multiple high-value applications:

Construction Industry Applications

Concrete additive: Replaces sand in structural concrete, storing carbon in buildings long-term
Carbon footprint reduction: Concrete production accounts for 8% of global emissions; OurCarbon helps offset this

Manufacturing Applications

Carbon black replacement: Substitutes for toxic carbon black pigment used in tires, keyboards, mascara, and countless other products
Sustainable inks: Provides black pigment for screen printing and fashion applications
Polymer additives: Enhances various manufactured products

Massive Environmental Impact

The environmental benefits operate on three levels:

Divert: Preventing biosolids from creating methane in landfills avoids up to 24 tons of CO2 equivalent per ton of OurCarbon produced in optimal conditions.

Transform: The process itself requires only 0.08 tons of CO2 to complete, compared to 3-5 tons for producing traditional carbon black.

Apply: Each ton of OurCarbon fixes over one ton of CO2 and replaces carbon-intensive materials, creating a total potential impact of 30 tons of CO2 benefit per ton produced.

Scaling Success: From Concept to Global Implementation

Bioforcetech currently operates over 50 systems across Italy and the United States, with more under construction. Their technology works best for municipalities processing 1-12 million gallons of wastewater daily, covering about 80-90% of the US wastewater market.

The company’s journey from concept to commercial success demonstrates the potential for waste-to-resource technologies. What started as a design student’s conceptual sewage-based ink has evolved into a proven industrial process transforming municipal waste management.

Overcoming Implementation Challenges

Despite the clear benefits, scaling new wastewater technology faces hurdles:

Regulatory Approval

New technologies require extensive permitting to ensure no harmful emissions. Bioforcetech spent four years obtaining permits from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, but this rigorous process validates their emissions controls.

Municipal Conservatism

Infrastructure investments use taxpayer money, making municipal leaders cautious about new technologies. Success requires demonstrating long-term operational reliability and visiting existing installations.

Technical Complexity

The process involves sophisticated biological and thermochemical systems requiring proper operation and maintenance, though the modular design simplifies installation and scaling.

The Future of Waste-to-Resource Technology

Bioforcetech’s success with biosolids opens possibilities for processing other organic waste streams. Their advanced pyrolysis technology could potentially transform:

Food and beverage industry waste
Paper mill sludges
Agricultural residues
Other organic waste streams

Why This Matters for Your Community

Whether you’re a municipal leader, environmental professional, or concerned citizen, biosolids pyrolysis represents a fundamental shift in how we handle waste. Instead of viewing sewage solids as a disposal problem, this technology demonstrates how waste can become a valuable resource.

The circular economy principles at work here – taking urban waste and converting it into materials that build urban infrastructure – offer a model for sustainable city development. Every building constructed with OurCarbon-enhanced concrete stores carbon while reducing the city’s waste disposal costs.

Conclusion: The Economics of Environmental Solutions

Bioforcetech’s technology succeeds because it aligns environmental benefits with economic incentives. Cities save money, harmful contaminants are destroyed, greenhouse gas emissions are prevented, and valuable materials are created – all in one process.

As regulations on PFAS tighten and landfill costs rise, technologies that transform waste into resources will become increasingly valuable. The sewage-to-carbon transformation proves that some of our biggest environmental challenges can become our most profitable solutions.

For municipalities looking to reduce waste management costs while meeting environmental goals, biosolids pyrolysis offers a proven path forward. The technology exists, the economics work, and the environmental benefits are substantial.

The question isn’t whether this technology will scale – it’s how quickly cities will adopt solutions that turn their biggest waste challenges into profit opportunities.

Learn More:

Visit bioforcetech.com for technical details and case studies
Explore ourcarbon.co to see product applications
Listen to our full interview with Garrett Benisch on the GreenTech Pulse podcast

Key Takeaways:

Biosolids processing can transform from cost center to profit center
Technology exists to destroy PFAS and other harmful contaminants completely
Fixed carbon storage offers long-term climate benefits
Circular economy principles create multiple value streams from single waste source