SASKATOON — Five years ago, Babak Roshani wondered how the City of Saskatoon handled organic waste before the Green Cart Program was launched. He was surprised to learn that during the winter months, it was stored in a facility. By spring, he said, the city ended up with a mushy and sludgy organic waste byproduct that could not be used and might cause pollution. That’s when he thought of a machine that would convert organic waste into biofertilizer.
Roshani then went to work and utilized his environmental engineering degree, along with his doctorate in microbiology and water chemistry, to develop a rapid composting vessel (RCV). The machine converts organic waste, including food scraps and yard and farm waste, into rich fertilizer.
Roshani has expertise in municipal and industrial water treatment, solid waste management, and the mining and metals sector. He is also experienced in designing and operating water and wastewater treatment plants.
He said he designed several prototypes and experimented extensively with the process of converting organic waste into fertilizer, achieving a faster conversion time of 120 to 150 days — instead of letting it rot in a facility through the winter.
“I was thinking of how I can accelerate the process. Initially, I began with an aerobic process, but it didn't work. I still used the aerobic process, but I came up with the idea of adding bacteria or microbial aid, which will convert any organic waste. It is also temperature-controlled at 65 degrees Celsius, which lasts for two days to deactivate any pathogens from the organic waste,” Roshani told SaskToday.
“The idea is just to decrease the cost of hauling and also convert that organic waste on site to compost or biofertilizer, so they can convert it to compost in an accelerated way, because in Saskatchewan the compost is going to take 120 to 150 days and on top of that during winter time it's not possible to do the composting because of freezing time. With this machine, we can perform composting 24 hours a day, every day of the year, with no seasonal dependence, and additionally, we can accelerate the process by five days.”
The aerobic process, in which air is pumped to stimulate microbes, uses oxygen-feeding microorganisms in wastewater treatment that break down organic pollutants.
Roshani's idea was successful. With his RCV, Roshani founded BrewNature, a Saskatoon startup that has already attracted international attention, including investment interest from Australia and the Middle East, he said. The microbial-aid compost can help local farmers and cut disposal costs. Roshani serves as BrewNature’s CEO, leading operations and financial management, with a focus on environmental stewardship and sustainability.
The RCV can now convert food waste — whether carbohydrates, oils, fats or proteins — into biofertilizer, considered a better alternative to chemical products. The machine can process one tonne of food waste into fertilizer, which produces healthier crops at a faster rate all year round. The byproduct is stored for farmers to use after winter.
Roshani said they use a different type of bacteria and enzymes to accelerate the composting process, which is similar to how humans digest food and convert it into nutrients that fuel the body. They currently have one machine, the first-generation prototype, but a larger version is being developed for installation at the Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre.
“We have another prototype, a second generation, which has the same principle. The operation is slightly different, but the quality of the product remains the same. We also aim to reduce costs, as one tonne of organic waste can produce around 400 to 500 kilograms of biofertilizer,” said Roshani.
He added that garden and yard waste, chicken and cow manure, even farm animal carcasses and other agricultural waste, or any organic material can be loaded into the machine and converted into biofertilizer.
“We have two options: it can be a Class A compost; and number two, during the process we can add some additives, to turn it into biofertilizer, and the end product can be granulized or pelletized, which can be shipped everywhere,” he said.
