Toronto, Ontario-based companies, Alterative Fuels Corp. and Turtle Island Recycling Corp., have announced a formal agreement to develop a biorefinery and sustainable chemical plant in Sarnia, Ontario. TIR will supply 400 tonnes per day of recycling residuals such as rubber, plastics and paper and AFC will utilize its proprietary process to convert the waste into a range of specialty chemicals and biofuels, which will in turn be used in TIR’s fleet. The company will also produce electricity that will be used to run the plant with the excess sold to the grid.

"The public generally is not aware of the fact that more than 56 per cent of the waste that gets thrown out, still ends up in landfill despite current recycling efforts," said Michael Hepworth, vice president of business development at AFC. "Much of this waste contains valuable energy which can be extracted without incineration and with no damage to the environment."

"Partnering with Alternative Fuels Corp. to supply feedstock for its process is strategically very important for us, as it will allow Turtle Island Recycling to offer our clients a way to ensure that none of their waste ends up in landfill," added Louis Anagnostakos, co-founder of TIR. "This is something that no other recycler can offer at this stage."

AFC will use second generation Fischer Tropsch process technology, developed by the Centre for Materials and Process Synthesis at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, which converts hydrocarbon feedstocks into biochemicals and biofuels, and can be applied to gas-, coal-, and biomass-to-liquid systems. The technology offers reduced carbon dioxide emissions, capital and operating costs and ease of operation and scalability. The technology is also quick to design and build and can profitably run in smaller scale plants.

While AFC plans to produce more biochemicals than it does fuels, the company estimates that it will produce approximately 1900 barrels of Fischer Tropsch liquids such as synthetic diesel per day, nearly 30 per cent of its overall biomass production capacity. Synthetic diesel shares the same chemical properties as diesel but is void of sulfur, particulates and nitrous compounds, does not require any engine modifications, and gels at a much lower temperature, which makes for a more suitable fuel for the Canadian climate, according to Hepworth.

AFC operates two pilot biomass facilities in China and Australia. The company is currently looking for investors and is in discussion with several large multi-nationals who have expressed interest in becoming strategic partners in the Sarnia opportunity. Depending on funding, the company anticipates beginning production at its Sarnia facility by 2012.