Company plans to turn dog poop in concrete slabs
Michael Mui, Postmedia Network
First posted: Wednesday, June 10, 2015 08:43 PM EDT
VANCOUVER - A Surrey, B.C., company says it's designing a machine to separate dog poop collected in plastic bags at parks and upcycle it into concrete slabs for construction.
The idea was proposed as a replacement alternative to the way waste bags are currently collected and manually separated from plastic by hand by Metro Vancouver contractors.
Bob Rogers, CEO of Pookt Pet Waste Solutions, said the idea is to roll out receptacles at parks where pet owners can drop the waste-filled bags into a slot. The machine then separates the plastic from waste internally before depositing the material into a dehydration basket.
Once filled, the waste gets picked up and it's sent to a baking facility where the poop is sterilized at high temperatures. The final material is a charcoal-like substance that the company has already tested by mixing with sand and mortar to create black, stone-like slabs.
As for the bags, those are collected and disinfected for recycling.
Rogers said the company, which currently does residential poop pickup in the Lower Mainland, is in the process of securing investment dollars for its first prototype machine -- expected to cost $67,000 to $150,000.
There's still lots of work to be done. In the coming weeks, Dr. Richard Holland, the company's scientific officer, said he'll be taking samples for tests to ensure the end product is sterile and safe.
"There's definitely a lot of substances -- viruses, bacteria -- present in dog waste that we know about," he said. "The primary ones (tests) would be for the E. coli which is the standard test. Some of the tests for worms can be done by microscope as well."
Frank Hay, the sewage disposal consultant on the project, said one issue that could arise are odours and fumes from the collection and heating process -- but that could be solved by venting the exhaust into the ground.
"The odour is captured in the ground and the carbon sources within the soil strip out those odours before they get back into the free air," he said.
"When they go through the process of cooking and dehydrating, there will be off-gases -- their facility plans to capture that off-gas and then send it into the subsurface venting ... and push it into the soil."
Bob Rogers, CEO of Pookt Pet Waste Solutions. (MICHAEL MUI/Postmedia Network)
Company plans to turn dog poop in concrete slabs | Canada | News | Toronto Sun
Michael Mui, Postmedia Network
First posted: Wednesday, June 10, 2015 08:43 PM EDT
VANCOUVER - A Surrey, B.C., company says it's designing a machine to separate dog poop collected in plastic bags at parks and upcycle it into concrete slabs for construction.
The idea was proposed as a replacement alternative to the way waste bags are currently collected and manually separated from plastic by hand by Metro Vancouver contractors.
Bob Rogers, CEO of Pookt Pet Waste Solutions, said the idea is to roll out receptacles at parks where pet owners can drop the waste-filled bags into a slot. The machine then separates the plastic from waste internally before depositing the material into a dehydration basket.
Once filled, the waste gets picked up and it's sent to a baking facility where the poop is sterilized at high temperatures. The final material is a charcoal-like substance that the company has already tested by mixing with sand and mortar to create black, stone-like slabs.
As for the bags, those are collected and disinfected for recycling.
Rogers said the company, which currently does residential poop pickup in the Lower Mainland, is in the process of securing investment dollars for its first prototype machine -- expected to cost $67,000 to $150,000.
There's still lots of work to be done. In the coming weeks, Dr. Richard Holland, the company's scientific officer, said he'll be taking samples for tests to ensure the end product is sterile and safe.
"There's definitely a lot of substances -- viruses, bacteria -- present in dog waste that we know about," he said. "The primary ones (tests) would be for the E. coli which is the standard test. Some of the tests for worms can be done by microscope as well."
Frank Hay, the sewage disposal consultant on the project, said one issue that could arise are odours and fumes from the collection and heating process -- but that could be solved by venting the exhaust into the ground.
"The odour is captured in the ground and the carbon sources within the soil strip out those odours before they get back into the free air," he said.
"When they go through the process of cooking and dehydrating, there will be off-gases -- their facility plans to capture that off-gas and then send it into the subsurface venting ... and push it into the soil."
Bob Rogers, CEO of Pookt Pet Waste Solutions. (MICHAEL MUI/Postmedia Network)
Company plans to turn dog poop in concrete slabs | Canada | News | Toronto Sun