Challenges and Opportunities for Cannabis Waste Tiffany Goldman Grant Parsons Alpine Waste & Recycling The Health Center Moderator: Brandon Rhea Kerry Flickner John Whiteside Blue Terra Waste Solutions Industrial Hemp Recycling Native Roots
Native Roots Cannabis Company • Founded in Colorado in 2009 • 19 dispensaries, 4 CBD wellness stores, 2 grows, 1 HQ in CO • Vertically integrated with 46 unique strains & 45 infused products • ~600 employees in Colorado • First US company to receive a retail cannabis license in Canada under the brand “Garden Variety” • Participating member of the Denver Cannabis Sustainability Work Group since 2017 • Robust community engagement and corporate social responsibility program focusing on underserved medical cannabis community, youth prevention, hunger and homelessness
Cannabis Packaging and Recycling Tiffany Goldman Challenges & Opportunities Co-Owner/COO for Cannabis Waste
The Health Center Who We Are: • One of the first dispensaries to open January 1, 2014 • 3 Dispensaries and 3 Cultivation Facilities • We work with different community organizations to improve neighborhoods and build relationships within communities
How We Made A Change Sustainable Cannabis Packaging 2018 became aware of more • sustainable packaging for cannabis industry Made packaging change from mylar • to Pop Tops which can be recycled
The Health Center • Offered discount for returned pop tops to get the word out to our customers about our new recyclable packaging • Our recycling increased by 120% in the first month
Waste Diversion and the Cannabis Industry Grant Parsons Challenges & Opportunities Regional Sales for Cannabis Manager Waste
A. Recycling B. Organics 1. Composting
• Plastics (#1-7 & rigids) • Cardboard • Fibers (paper, mail, etc.) • Polystyrene
• Plant and soil wastes ➢ Must be mixed with other shredded organic mix
• Current Average Alpine Customer = 12% • Current Average “Green” Alpine Customer = 58% • Current Average Cannabis Customer = 18%
Waste or Not? Recycling Hemp Waste Into Usable Products John Whiteside Challenges & Opportunities Owner/President for Cannabis Waste
Job Creation/Workforce Development Hemp the new Economic Engine $$$ Planet Restoration through Soil Rejuvenation ___________________ Textiles & Papermills Agriculture & Composting Construction & Building Materials Renewable Energy & Biofuels
Textiles Industrial Textiles vs Consumer Textiles Weaves, Cordage & Rope Clothing & Blankets Paper & Cardboard
Agriculture Products Fibrous Materials includes: Stick, Stalks, Stems and Root Bulbs Livestock Bedding High Value Compost Pellets Wind Rows/Biochar
Construction Materials Hempcrete Hemp Fiberboard Insulation Roofing/Shingles Hemp Bricks/Firelogs
Industrial Hemp: Hemp Fiber, Hemp Hurd & Hemp Seed Modern Uses For SEEDS: Hempseed STALK: BAST FIBER Industrial Hemp Oil, Food, Seed Cake Industrial Textiles Industrial Products Consumer Textiles LEAVES: Hygiene Products Paper Food Building Materials HURDS (PULP) Seed Cake BUILDING ENTIRE PLANT: MATERIALS Boiler Fuel FLOWERS: THC Pyrolysis Feedstock
Growing cannabis produces a bounty of waste. “Waste” because growers’ operations are too busy meeting retail needs to be able to convert their stalks, stems and leaves into viable health or agricultural products. WASTE FIBROUS SOIL CONSISTS GREEN WASTE MATERIAL OF
Everyday we all assume the Planet has what we need to survive
IHR Industrial Hemp Recycling, LLC www.ihrecycling.com 720.432.1562
Waste is a Resource out of Place Kerry Flickner Challenges & Opportunities Managing for Cannabis Director Waste
• Current Waste Systems are Linear, Myopic, Antiquated – Transportation Centric • Environmental Degradation / GHG ( Goal - 80% by 2050 ) • Inefficient resource extraction and energy use TAKE - MAKE – WASTE • The future of regulated cannabis industry must be catalyst for new models and transition away from existing linear disposal systems.
Landfill 101 (MSW) • Specifically designed to protect the environment from contaminants. • 1976 RCRA – Subtitle D • Monitoring systems check for any sign of groundwater contamination. • Meet stringent design, operation and closure requirements established under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
MSW Landfill / “Dry Tomb” EPA - Structural Integrity • Compress/Compact – Reduce Voids and destabilization Trash Compactor • Limit Decomposition! • Limit Oxygen – reduce combustion • Restrict Water / Control Toxic Leachate • Long Term Stability • Meet Post-Closure Remediation / Cap 25
Landfill Reclamation / Repurposing
Organics - Current Solution Set Commercial composting model legitimizes a linear system. It is not achieving what it promises…. a closed loop on short-cycle, low-value materials . We are not going to “compost” our way out of the environmental impacts of organic waste. A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it the superficial appearance of being right. ~ Thomas Paine 1790
Reality of Commercial Composting C o s t o f l a n d f i l l d i s p o s a l P u b l i c d e m a n w d a f s o t e r d i v e r s i o n D e m a n d c f o o m r p o s t p r o L d o u c c a t l s m a n d a t e s o n w a s t e d i v e r s i o n End Market demand does not meet growing supply
Current Response to Organic Waste Centralized A.D. Composting • Fremont, Michigan End Markets • • Finance Structure Peninsula Compost Corp • Feedstock • • Heartland Biogas Cincinnati Compost • • Feedstock • Digestate Market • Odor Management
Myopic & Transportation Centric Linear/Centralized End-market Volatility TRANSITION TO: • Cost savings re hauling • Heat/Energy cost offsets On-site/ • Nutrient-rich bio digestate Decentralized • Zero Waste Objectives
Cultivation “WASTE” $$ $$ Landfill Compost
Cultivation CBD $$ CBD Extraction & Operations Raffinate O-AD (Extraction)
Cultivation CBD $$ CBD Extraction & Operations RNG / Raffinate CNG O-AD (Extraction)
Cultivation CBD $$ CBD Extraction & Operations RNG / Raffinate CO2 CNG O-AD (Extraction)
Cultivation CBD $$ CBD Extraction & Operations RNG / Raffinate CO2 CNG FERT O-AD (Extraction)
Bio-Integration of Embedded Assets Grow Op Cultivation Raffinate Cannabis “Waste” On-site / Local Regeneration On-site Anaerobic Digestion Assets : Energy, Heat, CNG, Fertilizer, CO2
System Installation: Plug & Play Modular: 1,000 – 5,000 lbs./day
System Performance • Input Capacity 1,100 lbs./day • Electricity Generation 55,000 kWh /yr • Available Heat ~6,504 Thm/yr. (1 thm:100,000 BTU) • Fertilizer Generated 150 tons/yr
Operator Value Proposition On-site renewable clean energy • Reduction in waste removal cost$ • • Carbon credit$ Closed loop, regenerative nutrient cycle • • Heat generation - offset cost$ Soil bio-sequestration of carbon • • Onsite Electricity generation – 100% organics diversion • offset cost$ Carbon / Methane GHG Mitigation • • Onsite C02 Generation Offset cost $ • Gov Incentive$
Community Value Proposition Responsible Waste Solutions Economic 100 % Developme 100 % Industry nt, Regenerativ Landfill Resiliency Education, e Diversion and Training Regional Carbon and Posterity Sequestratio National and n and Soil GHG Resiliency Mitigation Transition Goals
Thank you.
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