WasteX – Bina Tani Sejahtera
About
The WasteX – Bina Tani Sejahtera partnership will offer farms and mills in Indonesia an integrated end-to-end biochar solution that includes onsite production of biochar with WasteX equipment, support services and training, and carbon credits. With the biochar application in farming, partnership will allow farmers to increase their incomes, improve soil health and the health of their animals, increase yields, and reduce fertilizer use and carbon emissions.
Investing in Impact
P4G awarded the partnership with US $458,081 in grant funding.
WasteX will transform agricultural and animal waste into biochar that can be used by agricultural and livestock farms. This low carbon solution allows farmers to increase their incomes and improve their farms’ production by converting and utilizing waste that would otherwise be sold cheaply, dumped in landfills or burned.
Biochar is a charcoal-like substance that’s made by burning organic material from agricultural and forestry waste. When mixed with soil, it can improve crop yields, increase soil water retention, and increase fertilizer effectiveness. It can also be used in animal bedding to reduce disease and be added as a feed supplement to livestock diets to improve animal health.
WasteX has developed proprietary technology and equipment customized for use in farms in Southeast Asia. The technology allows the equipment to be smokeless and more energy efficient.
WasteX has two revenue generation strategies:
1. Providing farms with WasteX equipment and training either through the outright sale (upfront or leasing) of the equipment or through a subscription model where WasteX provides the equipment for free and collects a fee over time through carbon credit proceeds.
2. Developing larger-scale facilities where WasteX operates a facility at a partner’s location. In this model, the partner provides the space and supply of waste, and participates in profit sharing. Additionally, the smallholders in the area benefit from the biochar application.
WasteX has so far provided its solution to farms and mills across Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. These include a mix of poultry, rice, cacao, corn and more. It has found that the application of biochar made from its equipment has improved rice yields by 38%, cacao by 61% and corn by 95%, together with a reduction in the use of NPK fertilizer for cacao and corn. As a feed additive, it has reduced chicken mortality rate by 25% and the presence of E.coli in manure by 99%.
WasteX is also in the process of getting certified by the Carbon Standards International as a C-Sink Manager under the Global Artisan C-Sink standard. This would enable the company to certify farms and facilitate carbon credits for them.
Bina Tani Sejahtera will support WasteX in reaching farmer groups and to train farmers on biochar benefits and application. It will also engage with government stakeholders for any regulatory interventions that will help improve the biochar production market and produce white papers and other knowledge products designed to help policymakers better understand the policies that will support this nascent market.
During the P4G funding period, WasteX aims to raise US $1 million in additional investment for expansion and growth. It will equip between 12 to 16 mid-sized farms with machines and technology, build 5-10 larger facilities onsite with agricultural producers, and provide and distribute 300 tons of biochar to smallholder farmers annually. As part of delivering social and environmental impact, the partnership will create 45 jobs, increase the yields of 300 farmers, and reduce 700 tons of carbon emissions.
The partnership comprises the following partners: WasteX (lead business partner); Bina Tani Sejahtera (lead administrative partner); Yayasan Agathis Dammara Karbon (biochar expert and training partner).
Partners
