Why Knockalva Enterprises Limited can solve Jamaica's Organic Waste, Bio-Fuel and Water Problem

“We are 40 per cent less expensive than imported equivalents. Even so, our margins are still good because we are in business to make satisfactory returns on our investment”

Dr Hansel Beckford commenting on their company Knockalva Enterprises Limited plans to make compost

Compost is great for growing plants. However, competition to inorganic fertilizer hasn't materialized....until now.

Enter Knockalva Enterprises Limited, why are vying to become a large scale supplier of Compost to the Bauxite industry as reported in “Start-Up Knockalva Enterprises To Make Organic Fertiliser”, Published Friday March 18, 2016 by Steven Jackson, The Jamaica Gleaner.

 

The company was started by co-chief executive officers Dr Hansel Beckford, a crop physiologist, and Max Keith, a chartered accountant, and will be selling the following organic fertilizer products:

1.      Fertiliser

2.      Potting compost

3.      Garden soil

So who is their planned market?

Knockalva Enterprises Limited Organic Fertilizer - Why Organic Fertilizer is needed to solve Organic Waste Problem

When Knockalva Enterprises Limited is up and running, they'll be selling their product under the Easi-Gro Brand in the following:

1.      10 lb and 20 lb packages for the retail trade

2.      50 lb and 100 lb bulk supplies for commercial users

The company plans to start selling their organic fertilizer by the end of May 2016 to the following interested groups:

1.      Bauxite companies

2.      Coffee farmers

3.      Sugar cane farmers

4.      Landscapers and Gardeners

Already, they've projected sales of JA$168 million. However, they do have competition from Ecowells Limited, an organic Fertilizer manufacturer as noted in the article “Waste In, Fertiliser Out - Ecowells Turns Trash Into Compost”, Published Monday May 14, 2012, The Jamaica Gleaner. 

Ecowells Limited has three different products:

1.      Compost

2.      Compost Potting Mix

3.      Worm Castings

Ecowell Limited probably uses the same techniques as Knockalva Enterprises Limited to make their compost. Locally sources organic material such as grass cuttings, fruit peelings as well as animal droppings from farmers is then heated in a process similar to making coal. However, the temperature is maintained at 110F and 150F for between six and eight weeks to kill harmful bacteria.

Then dentritovores such as worms, bugs and special bacteria decompose the remaining organic material ready to be packages in their various products. This means that the production of Organic Fertilizer is a great way to recycle organic material into agriculture instead of throwing it away in landfills being thrown into landfills or being washed into stream, causing algae to grow.

Knocklava Enterprises Limited will have to have prices cheaper than Ecowell Limited offering which are priced as follows:

1.      JA$450 and JA$480 for a 20 lb bag  

2.      JA$900 and JA$1,000 for a 60 lb bag

3.      JA$1,000 for a 100 lb bag

4.      JA$6,000 per cubic yard

However, it’s good to note that Ecowell Limited and Knockalva Enterprises Limited only recycle premium organic waste. What about recycling other types of organic waste in Jamaica?

Organic Waste Competition coming - Recycling everything organic to make fertilizer and biofuel

What has me interested is that Knockalva Enterprises Limited or other startups that are bound to come along can also recycle human waste from sewage to produce compost with drinking water as a VAP (Value Added Product) as predicted in my blog article entitled “Water Wastage at MICO - How Waste Water Recycling and Rainwater Harvesting benefits Agriculture”. 

Other startups can also recycle other types of organic waste, such as wood trimmings from bush and even waste meat and eggs like those the Downtown Vendors attempted to sell from the Riverton City Dump as pointed out in my blog article entitled “How Discarded Meat from Riverton City Dump is still being sold in Downtown Kingston”. 

Another startup can even recycle coffee grindings into fuel pellets as is the case with UK startup Bio-Bean as noted in my blog article entitled “How Bio-Bean is making Biofuel from Coffee Waste as Coruscant looms”.  

Cooking Oil can be recycled into Biofuel as HERO BX plans to do in the Caribbean as noted in my blog article entitled “HERO BX commercial-scale biodiesel plant - How Jamaica can recycle Cooking Oil to supply US$614.92 billion market”.

Hopefully, the lifelong friends who started Knockalva Enterprises Limited will get the funding they need. Organic Fertilizer can potentially break our dependence on imported fertilizer by recycling the waste that we already produce. 

In the process, as more organic fertilizer makers come into Jamaica, they might recycle human waste from sewage into drinking Water and potentially solve our drought problem. While they're at it, they can also recycle our organic Garbage, coffee waste and cooking oil waste into bio-fuel that can be used to run generators and even motor vehicles one day.