Nick,
In response to your first question, Rene Branconnier said that they had just received the environmental permits for the Fort Devens plant, were wrapping up the building permits and contruction plans, and should begin construction very soon.
On the subject of the enzymes, let me start out by saying that they are expecting enzyme recovery to be a significant part of their revenues in the future. This isn't just an idea; they have successfully extracted these enzymes from their process. The interesting thing about the enzyme recovery is that various enzymes are produced depending on the kind of waste that is being processed. As an example, Rene mentioned a grease fighting enzyme (I don't recall the name) that is produced best when alot of greasy organic material is fed into the Thermo Master plant. So, not all plants will get the enzyme extracting equipment, and the plants that do get the equipment will have to be committed to processing a certain kind of waste.
They expect to be able to recover 1 gram of enzyme per ton of waste that is processed through a plant. Ed didn't have a cost per gram to extract, but said the equipment needed for recovery runs $1.3 million. They expect to be able to sell these enzymes for over $100 per gram. So, if you do the math, you can see that a plant equipped for enzyme recovery should provide as much, if not more, in revenues as processing the waste itself, and, I would think, at better margins!
I didn't get your note till after I toured the plant, and didn't think to ask about customers for the enzymes or when they expected to begin selling them (seem like obvious questions now!). But, I have left a message for Ed Kroeker to give me a call, and will post another note to you after I hear back from him.
Rgds,
--Wayne-- |
