In Argentina, José Alberto Aramberri is working on a waste reduction project that he hopes will help apple cider producers in the country. He is trying to find a way to process the waste from apple cider production into firewood and charcoal replacements. This would help reduce the amount of waste produced by these businesses, and it could also help create new jobs in the area. Aramberri is currently working to test his process, and he is hopeful that it will be successful.
Same energy potential as traditional means
Apple cider production can be a messy process, and it often results in the production of waste. This waste can come in many different forms, but one of the most common types is a sort of pulp containing a mixture of skin, pulp, and seeds. This pulp is often simply discarded, but José Alberto Aramberri is hoping to find a way to use it as a firewood and charcoal replacement. He calls it the “bio trunk” and named the company BIOT.
What Aramberri is currently trying to do is to dry and press this pulp, so it can be cut into a brick shape, which can be used as a potential replacement for firewood or charcoal. If this kind of operation can scale up there is a good potential for profit because the costs are low and the cider manufacturers will be happy to have someone take the waste from them rather than paying for its removal. Other than that, they might also use some of it as compost or for feeding animals.
A new market to address
Argentina has a rich and long tradition of doing barbecues and getting them to try out apple bricks might be a challenge but in case the price point is good it might be attractive to low-income buyers as an alternative to not doing a barbecue at all. Perhaps the product has a chance to grow from there and maybe some of the chefs might even begin to enjoy the apple flavor in the smoke that might transfer onto the meat.
The operation of José Alberto Aramberri might be still in the early days, but turning waste into a product is a fantastic idea and with a bit of luck and support from suppliers and clients it might end up being a huge success. If you want to have a look at how this works, make sure to check out the video below as well.
YouTube: How Logs of Fruit Pulp Replace Firewood and Charcoal | World Wide Waste
Photo credit: The feature image is symbolic and was taken by Craig Wyzik.
