From January to May 2023, WasteX, a climate-tech company operating in the Philippines and Indonesia, implemented the biochar solution that it has produced in a poultry farm in West Java. Collaborating with agritech startup Pitik Digital Indonesia, the project aims to examine how biochar–a charcoal-like and carbon-rich substance derived from biomass–can boost the performance of the poultry industry and help achieve sustainable farming techniques.
The same solution has been implemented by WasteX in a Cavite poultry farm in the Philippines and resulted in positive reception from various government institutions.
What is the biochar, and why does it sound so promising? Biochar is produced from rice husk and poultry litter using WasteX’s proprietary equipment at one of Pitik’s farms. It is then incorporated into the farm’s operations in two ways: as a bedding additive of up to 10 per cent of the total bedding and as a feed supplement of up to two per cent of the feed.
In a press statemen, WasteX says that the supplementation of bedding with up to 10 per cent biochar led to substantial improvements in the farm’s broiler chicken production with a 25 per cent reduction in chicken mortality rate and a 30 per cent decrease in overall bedding use.
It also helps the farm achieve the highest-ever recorded value in its Performance Index with a slight decrease in the feed conversion ratio or FCR. Apart from that, the use of biochar also helps with a “near-complete” eradication of E. coli and guarantees carbon credits to its clients for the entire biochar production and application.
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WasteX carboniser
Why biochar is the way to go
WasteX is the result of the Wavemaker Impact venture-building process. In an email interview with e27, Founder and CEO Pawel Kuznicki explains how the project came to be.
“We were looking for untapped opportunities where we could have the bigest financial and carbon impact. We realised that biochar is the way to go – that it is proven technology but requires commercialisation. Then we realised that potential agricultural stakeholders require a complete solution so that they would adopt it,” he explains.
“That’s how we decided to develop our end-to-end solution inclusive of our own proprietary equipment, full implementation with agronomy expertise, and carbon credits facilitation. We embarked on initial partners in pilot projects (farms and agricultural producers from the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand) while we were perfecting our solution. With these successful initial projects, we recently started commercial implementations with a much-improved product, processes and proven benefits.”
Biochar itself has plenty of potential applications, ranging from agriculture to cement manufacturing to water filtration. But WasteX focuses on its implementation in crop farming, including cassava, cacao and vegetables.
“We offer n end-an-end that is inclusive of our proprietary equipment, full implementation on the farm, support with biochar application in farming, a digital app to monitor to progress and optimise the application, and carbon credits facilitation where we guarantee US$50 per ton biochar to farms. It is already a fairly holistic solution where we try to maximise benefits for our clients,” Kuznicki says.
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As a company, WasteX has three sources of revenue: Equipment sales, implementation fees, and revenue sharing on carbon credits.
“We have a multi-channel acquisition strategy that includes outbound sales, digital and offline marketing, working with independent agents and partnerships. The benefits to farms are quite clear and convincing, so the major challenge is the investment required on the farm’s side. We address it by offering flexible payment plans,” Kuznicki says.
Having raised a total of US$775,000 from Wavemker Impact and Norinchukin Innovation Fund, WasteX is run by a team of 12 splits between the Philippines and Indonesia.
“Currently, we focus on growing these two markets, but we have got client inquiries from Thailand, Australia or Vietnam, among others,” Kuznicki says.
“But we believe that Indonesia and the Philippines are huge big opportunities for our business that we want to grow the expertise and presence there so that we can provide to our clients top-notch on-the-ground service.”
In the near future, the company wants to focus on product development and customer acquisition.
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Image Credit: WasteX