Helping farmers in Southeast Asia turn waste into valuable products

An initiative is helping farmers make use of valorisation technologies

Spotted: There are a number of ways to address the problem of agricultural waste. One is to valorise the waste, that is, to extract useful products from it – whether by reusing, recycling, or composting. Today’s modern world offers a growing number of technologies in waste valorisation. However, these developments can appear complicated to use, and, as a result, are sparsely adopted by agricultural producers. In response, Wavemaker has launched WasteX to help agricultural producers in Southeast Asia turn biomass into higher-value products – all while helping to fight climate change.

The development will provide an end-to-end solution to agricultural producers – from selecting the right technology, to certification for carbon credits. Wavemaker believes that this will create a market opportunity for farmers to not only address waste but also generate new revenue streams and decrease their emissions footprint.

While there is no one silver bullet for agriculture and climate change, Wavemaker hopes that solutions like WasteX will have a huge positive impact. In a region where agriculture contributes greatly to greenhouse gas emissions, and where there is a lack of infrastructure and resources for waste management, turning waste into value could be game-changing both for farmers and their environmental impact.

WasteX is piloting various projects across Southeast Asia in partnership with agricultural companies, independent mills, and livestock farms. Moving forward, WasteX hopes to digitise the solution and connect with a greater range of players along the biomass waste value chain.

Other innovators are also demonstrating that, with proper management, waste can be reduced and reused in a way that benefits both the environment and the economy. Other innovations spotted by Springwise include a Dutch company making bricks more sustainable by using recycled construction products in their manufacture and a company turning industrial biowaste into leather and fabric.