Introducing
The Aloha Sustainable materials recycling & Fertilizer Facility
(We like to call it SMRFF for short!)
What it IS
The Aloha Sustainable Materials Recycling & Fertilizer Facility (SMRFF) is a waste recycling facility under development by Simonpietri Enterprises LLC in the James Campbell Industrial Park in Kapolei, Hawaii. The facility will provide a solution for locally generated solid and organic wastes that are currently landfilled due to the unique challenges they present that prevent them from being recycled. The purpose of the facility is to divert waste from being landfilled and instead recycle it into useful products.
How it works
We plan to accept a variety of different wastes including construction and demolition (C&D) debris, which upon receipt, would be sorted, separated and valuable materials recycled. The organic C&D components, like clean unpainted wood – along with tropical biomass and invasive species waste – will be converted into synthesis gas using a fluidized-bed gasification system, which will then be used to create electricity to help sustainably self-power the facility. The clean wood and green waste ash produced from the gasification process along with chicken manure, other wastes, will be combined to create 100% locally produced organic and potassium rich fertilizers to support Hawaii’s agricultural industry and work towards improving food security & resiliency.
The aloha SMRFF business model process
Crop trials & results to date
Cucumber Trial
Location: UH Waimanalo Research Station
ANOVA – Multiple data sets
Because the cucumbers produced fruit for over a month, data was gathered from multiple harvests. The results showed our Organic & K-pop blends produced similar yields as compared to organic Sustane and a conventional (fossil fuel derived) 16-16-16 fertilizer when it came to weight and number of fruits yielded. Although there wasn’t a statistically significant difference between our blends and the 2 comparisons, there was a significant difference between plots that were treated with one of our blends, and the control (untreated).
Findings: Crop growth appears very responsive to our first formulations and performed statistically better than untreated plots.
Pak Choi Trial
Location: Pearl City Urban Garden Center
ANOVA – Single harvest
The results for the Pak choi indicated there were no significant differences across ALL blocks, and our 2 blends performed only marginally better than the control. This may have been due to residual nutrients in the field but is currently undetermined as there was only one harvest to take data from.
Findings: Although there were no statistically significant differences between all blocks, our initial formulations still performed comparably to imported organic and conventional fossil fuel derived substitutes.
Key Takeaways
We were able to disprove the null hypothesis that our initial fertilizer formulations would perform worse than commercially available substitutes. Furthermore, we proved the viability of concept, that we are able to produce an organic fertilizer from 100% locally sourced waste components that could perform comparably to fertilizers currently imported.
The Problems we are addressing
Landfilled Waste
Mixed Green Waste
Manure Management
Invasive Species
Climate Change
Environmental justice
Making Fertilizer
How we came about making fertilizer
As part of our early community engagement efforts, we conducted dozens of stakeholder interviews and 2 iterations of an online survey to receive input from the community which might have an impact on our overall project design. Input received from those interactions is what led us to look into using mixed tropical greenwaste as a supplemental feed material for our gasification process while providing a much-needed solution for invasive plants overrunning Hawaii’s landscape. Testing of the material showed we could not only use it as a supplemental feedstock while providing 100% certified destruction of invasive plants and pests, but the clean waste ash from gasification of greenwaste also appeared to be suitable as a potential POTASH fertilizer ingredient which led to this exciting opportunity.
What we Can use to make fertilizer
Wood waste
Of the 1500-2000 tons of construction and demolition that gets landfilled daily, approximately 40% is wood waste that has the potential to be recycled. Because of the challenges this waste stream presents, there are no other solutions currently available.
Wood waste from the removal of invasive trees also contribute to Hawaii’s overall wood waste.
Mixed Tropical green Waste & Invasive plants & pests
Hawaii’s landscape has become over-run with fast-growing, fire-prone invasive plants that can be highly destructive as was evidenced by the tragic wildfires in 2023 on Maui island. Additionally, there has been an increase in destruction caused by invasive pests like the Little Fire Ant (LFA) or Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (CRB) which has been killing palm trees island-wide. Now more than ever, there is a need for a certified destruction and treatment process to stop the rapid spread of these invasive pests and plants.
Chicken Manure
Manure is the single largest limiting factor for expansion of egg-laying farms on O’ahu. We aim to address this with our proposed new Sustainable Materials Recycling and Fertilizer Facility (SMRFF) project, and convert the manure into an ingredient for USDA-compliant organic and potash fertilizer.
Biodiesel Potassium Cake
Potassium saltcake is a byproduct of the biodiesel refining process. In Hawaii, this material currently has to be disposed in a landfill. The SMRFF is being designed to recover the nutrients from this waste and manufacture potash fertilizer.
We want to hear from you!
Our Aloha Sustainable Materials Recovery and Fertilizer Facility (SMRFF) preliminary environmental assessment data room is available to view.
Gallery
