WTC Clients

B&G Farms

Royal City

Researcher: Dr. Steven Verhey, Central Washington University and Dr. Lynne Carpenter-Boggs, Washington State University

Year Project Began: 2004

This project is aimed at studing the commercial potential of mint-based compost. B&G Farms is a diversified agricultural company that produces both organic and conventionally-grown produce. It is the largest organic producer in Washington and sells most of its product to Pacific Rim companies. Washington state mint crop is worth $50 million annually. Disposal of mint waste is costly to growers and a source of ongoing environmental challenge. In a previous Phase 1 study, the research team developed a patented process for converting mint waste into high-quality compost. The compost has value as a fertilizer, soil-enhancer and disease suppression and can be used in conventional and organic agriculture and landscaping, viticulture, turf, and horticulture. In this Phase 2 grant, the company and researchers will continue to evolve the process and carry out field trials on several target crops in summer 2005 using the compost produced from the 2004 mint crop.

Labels: Central, CWU, District_13, Life_Sciences, Royal_City, RTD_Grant_Program_A-K, WSU

Northwest Quality Products

Aberdeen

Researcher: John Gerdes, Central Washington University

Year project began: 1999

The timber products industry in Western Washington has generated massive amounts of waste cedar wood that are too hazardous for landfill disposal. Currently over 100,000 tons of the highly flammable by-product are sitting in waste piles in Grays Harbor County alone. Northwest Quality Products, Aberdeen, has a plan and a process for extracting two viable products from this waste: a wood oil preservative and aromatic oils that impart the cedar scent to consumer products such as candles and soap.

Ron Lunnum, founder of the company, wanted to optimize the distillation method for production on a larger scale. The WTC introduced him to John Gerdes, a researcher with expertise in organic chemistry at Central Washington University in Ellensburg. The two are collaborating on an Entrepreneur's Access project to further develop the refining process. Upon completion, Northwest Quality Products plans to operate a processing plant in Grays Harbor County and employ up to 50 workers in this economically depressed region.

Labels: Aberdeen, CWU, District_19, Life_Sciences, Olympic_Peninsula, RTD_Grant_Program_L-Z

Quincy Farm Chemicals, Inc.

Quincy

Researcher: Dr. Steven Verhey, Central Washington University Dept. of Biological Sciences

Year project began: 2004

Compost is an increasingly important source of macronutrients, micronutrients and organic matter to improve soil characteristics in production agriculture, and is an alternative to chemical fertilizers. Bagged or bulk compost is also much sought-after by gardeners and landscapers, and high-quality compost is hard to find.

A key component of Washington's substantial agricultural industry is the production of spearmint and peppermint oils. The state produces close to 25 percent of U.S. mint oils, the processing of which produces large quantities of waste plant material, or mint slugs. Mint slugs are a potentially rich source of the carbon required for effective composting. However, Central Washington's mint slug resource currently is completely unused and represents a significant waste disposal problem. Proper disposal of agricultural waste materials is mandated and enforced by state and federal agencies.

Turning waste material feedstocks into a valuable and sellable product, compost, is one of the goals of Quincy Farm Chemicals. The company is working with Professor Verhey to, (1) analyze the local mint feedstocks for composting potential, (2) develop "recipes" likely to produce high-quality compost, and (3) produce and test the compost for fertilizer use. Quincy Farm Chemical's "recycling" process of this previously unused mint straw provides the company with a new product to sell, while also solving a waste disposal problem.

Labels: Central, CWU, District_13, Life_Sciences, Quincy, RTD_Grant_Program_L-Z

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