E047 - Ifeyinwa Kanu from IntelliDigest

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So Ife, thank you so much for coming on the Green Element Podcast. I'm really looking forward to today. We met on the RBS Accelerator Programme actually, and we were chatting about what it is that you do and how you do it and how you're going to change the world. And you've designed a product that turns food waste into a product with no residue. It's— you've filed a patent and it's completely novel and new and really, really good, and it's exactly what we need in so much of the hospitality industry. So let's talk about that and let's talk about what you're doing and how you're doing it.

So Yeah, thank you very much, Will, and for that amazing introduction, Sarah. Well, I love the environment and I'm really passionate about providing solutions to environmental challenges. I started off my first degree in civil engineering and my first job was in a dredging company that exposed me to environmental challenges. And since then, I've got a passion to really work towards, you know, providing a global solution to most of the environmental challenges that we have. That passion has been in me, and I never knew how I could do it until when I went to do my master's in environmental engineering. I was working with one of the wastewater treatment companies, and I saw firsthand what challenges they face in their treatment processes. My master's was looking at retrofitting activated processes for energy efficiency. And in the process, I witnessed the challenges they have with waste treatment, the movement of waste from places to the site, the challenges they have with processing this waste. And luckily for me, I had a distinction in my master's and I was given a scholarship to do my PhD. And I felt, you know, this is the time for me to really do what I've loved to do and look at how I could solve that problem of waste management and, you know, large-scale anaerobic processes. And so that's how I went into doing my PhD in environmental engineering. My PhD was more like looking into advanced biological investigation and artificial intelligence to optimize such processes. And this is how it's come about.

Slow— sorry, what do you mean by that? You're talking to a complete novice here. So what the process is— I didn't even catch what you said. So what sort of processes were you looking at? I'm trying to understand where you came from and your background.

Okay, so when I talk about my master's, that was activated sludge. So most of the time, when we use our wastewater, both in the toiletries and the kitchen, goes down the drain, it flows down to centers where it's pumped into the final treatment plant where it's now processed. So there's a lot of energy requirement in delivering these waste processes. And what I was doing, what I did was to try to see how we can optimize the energy requirement for the kind of activated sludge process we use in the UK. And so when I did that, I moved on to look at anaerobic process. So the activated sludge process is an aerobic process and includes a lot of biomass in the system, which needs to be treated in anaerobic process. And in anaerobic process, it's without oxygen, then you get microorganisms to treat this waste and then convert it to biogas, and this biogas is used to power most of the treatment plants. So it's kind of a circular process to make the waste management process more efficient.

Yeah.

But the issue is that because of the variability in the microbial composition inside this single unit, it means that you have what we call system perturbation whereby the system doesn't work very well, and you can have things like foaming whereby the system can actually blow up and then, you know, there's overflow of the digester content. So most of what I did in my PhD was trying to develop— understand what is causing it. So using advanced biological investigation processes like omics analysis and then using artificial intelligence processes— artificial intelligence modeling to model processes to make the system more efficient. So that's a summary of what I was talking about.

So in a nutshell, before you came along, systems like this blew up, and now you've made a system that is really efficient, doesn't blow up, and works really well.

Exactly. So before it was a black— yeah, thank you very much for summarizing it and making it very interesting. So before it was a very black box system. them with different microorganisms doing different things. What we've done now is to split those processes and then provide these microorganisms— or rather than using microorganisms, we use different processes that still achieve the same output. Then we use specific microorganisms that we can optimize the process and prevent all those changes from happening. The good thing about it is that you can now decide what you want from the output. Even from the input. So you don't have to wait for the output to know what you get from the system, which is kind of a complete game changer.

And that's where you— I mean, you talk about plastic turning your food waste into plastic packaging. I'm assuming you don't really mean plastic packaging, but you mean packaging. So food waste packaging.

Yes, so what that means is that we generate a new kind of biomaterial that can be used in place of plastic.

Yeah.

But then these materials are completely biodegradable, so they don't cause environmental harm like plastic. Another way to go about it is, I mean, the EU is targeting increasing the amount of biodegradable materials in plastic at the moment. The existing bioplastics are not biodegradable, they can only be composted. In large-scale treatment facilities. The implication of that is that if you don't get them into those large-scale treatment facilities, they cause the same challenge with existing plastic. So that's where we bring a difference, you know, something that's completely biodegradable that can enhance existing plastic and, you know, reduce the content of environmental pollution.

Yeah, I mean, that When you were talking to Sarah and I, and I mean, Sarah's background is working for a waste company, and I think that's what got her so excited was you are delivering a system that doesn't exacerbate the problem.

Exactly.

It reduces it, where there are a number of organizations in the UK that are producing biodegradable, in inverted commas, material but actually has its own waste stream because it cannot go into any other waste stream, which doesn't particularly make any sense. Do you have any competitors out there? Do you have anyone that's doing this, or are you unique?

Well, there are different technologies springing up because of the environmental challenge we have. But none of them is actually delivering the kind of value we deliver through our process. So we have a couple of them in the market, but they use aerobic processes. So they hydrolyze food waste and send it down the drain. We also have some people that try to compact the food waste. So they compact it, and then the nutrient in food waste is sent down the drain. One of the big problems with this is the fatberg issue. So what happens is that when this food waste, whether it's hydrolyzed or just compressed, gets down the drain, the fat content congeals and then it blocks most of the sewer. And most of the operators of wastewater treatment plants are having a huge problem trying to treat the kind of fats we send down the drain, even from households, from hotels and restaurants. There's so much of our oil and fat that we send down the drain. They block the sewers, they cause more problems for wastewater treatment plants. So it's trying to say, you know, we can do more with these fats. Don't just send them down the drain. It could just generate so much for you and it could solve a lot of problems we have with plastics.

That's, I mean, that's brilliant. That's brilliant. You're solving a really, really good problem. I mean, I've been working in this industry for a long time now and And it's just brilliant. It's awesome. I was looking at your calculator because you've got a really cool calculator on your website that helps you understand how much waste you need in order to produce enough that will pay for itself, for example. And I think that's a really, really useful way of finding out more about what it is that you're doing. So if you do want to, the links will be on our podcast to your websites. Just go onto the website and have a look and try and work out what you're doing. We work with a number of restaurants that we're certainly going to be introducing this to and talking to them about it.

So that'll be great.

And we work with a lot of offices and It was roughly 250 kilograms, 200 kilograms a day that made it cost viable. Obviously, different costs are variable within that, so it could be as low as 150, it could be possibly as high as 300. But you could combine a bunch of offices into this, couldn't you? Because a lot of the larger offices in London have their own catering services within them. So therefore, if you had 1 or 2 or 3 that jumped together, someone could put it in their basement and then they could work together on this, couldn't they?

Yeah, sure, definitely. I mean, I think the key thing there is people understanding that the waste needs to get into the system as early as possible to get the best value from it. The more you leave food waste to deteriorate, the more you lose value from it. And that's the reason why we say, you know, this has to be as close as possible to, you know, the food waste generator, whoever is generating the food waste, to make the maximum value from it. Yeah, but that's possible.

Brilliant, brilliant. And so can I ask you, how— what got you interested in sustainability and the environment? What would you say your— do you have a tipping point? Do you have a part Was there a point in your life you went, I'm going to become more environmental? Was it childhood, something that went on there, or, you know, what— at what point did you start getting more interested in sustainability?

I think for me, I'm a naturally environmental person. I get my most sanity when I'm in the water, you know, like being in a natural environment, probably walking through the coastal areas or just looking over some water bodies. So I'm a naturally environmental person. So I've always, you know, loved to be in the environment, just love being part of, you know, nature and environment. And like I said, when I did my first work after graduation, which was in a dredging company, that was when I, you know, came into contact directly with environmental challenges and began to think, you know, I'm not just gonna love the environment, I'm gonna do something better for the environment. So yeah, so for me, I think that was a tipping point for me.

I mean, you couldn't really do much more for the environment than reduce waste that's going into it. And the bonus is you're stopping people using plastic as well. So it's kind of like a win-win. It's awesome.

Yeah, it's amazing.

And so I guess this is— this would lead me on to a question. How do you feel that you can influence change through this?

I think it's so fulfilling in the sense that I've got to work with very young, talented people who are so passionate about just working in the company because of the impact you know, the product is going to make in the environment. And the fact that after working with them, you know, they still come back to ask me, how you getting on? How is everything? You know, it means that they really enjoy the time they've been through the project. And I think one of the first interns that worked with me ended up working with the Scottish Glass Company because he's now working in the department that looks at, you know, getting more renewable gases into the grid. And this was just because he had this project with me. And, you know, it completely changed his mindset and his look around what, you know, what impact our food waste is having on the environment. And I think I feel so pleased when he got back to me to tell me that, you know, what I did really kind of had a lot of impact in my getting this job and, you know, getting moving on in life and doing what I really love to do. do. And I think it's meant a lot for most of the young people now that, you know, their job doesn't just deliver, you know, good money for them, but it's making an impact in the environment, which is really good.

That's brilliant. Do you know Mike from Topolitics?

Do I?

Do you know Michael Groves from Topolitics?

Yeah, I do.

Brilliant. Right up your street. And I bet you he's a firm advocate of yours.

Yeah, yeah.

Oh cool, brilliant. So what would you— what, what is it that you would like our listeners to do on the back of this podcast? Is, um, you're looking for investment at the moment, aren't you?

Yeah.

Um, so promoting what you're doing?

Yeah, um, it'd be great, yes, for people to promote what we're doing, but I think for the mindset of doing good for the environment and You know, just putting themselves out when they've got the opportunity to do it. And yeah, I think that's very important that, you know, we all join together in this journey and then we're able to deliver this change. So yeah, very happy, you know, to hear from people who really want to work with us, who want to invest in us. And I think from us also, we're keen to have customers who want to use our products, want to talk to them, want to understand, you know, how they want to use it and, you know, want them to be part of our journey and to work with them. So that's very important to us. And yeah, we want this. I think for us as a business, one of our key unique selling points is that we're changing people's behavior. One of the challenges is that existing waste treatment processes take food waste away and then do something else with it, or hydrolyze it and send it down the drain. People don't understand what's going on. But what we're doing is that we are offering people a direct benefit. People engage engaging with the process. And I think for us it's about that change of behavior, people understanding, look, what I'm generating is having this kind of impact, why should I be doing it in the first place? So it's that behavioral change that we're looking at. I think that's one of our unique selling points in terms of saying this is going to change behavior, this is going to change the way people look at waste and resources. Sorry. Yeah, it's just having that, people having a hand Um, their waste turned to resource, a complete circular process. So it's critical, and I hope—

Ife, it seems that your internet connection is going wrong. Do you mind if you stop video?

Okay.

There, I think that will probably be better, um, if that's all right.

Okay, yeah, so I think, yeah, so it's about the change of behavior and, um, people understanding, you know, we can actually do this circularity more conveniently and more efficiently.

And I actually had a question for you, but the internet thing just stopped me thinking about it. The packaging, that's right. So your product produces this plastic equivalent at the end of it. Would you be able to sell that? And is that within the equations that you have on the cost calculator?

No, that's not inclusive in the cost calculator. The biochemical is not inclusive in the cost calculator. So the cost calculator, when we did it, is more focused on the biogas generation. And further discussion with customers has brought up the idea of what we can do with the biochemicals and how we can optimize the processes to be able to use that biochemical to do something else. So yes, so that's a new phase of the project that we're developing.

Yeah, because what could happen is you'd end up with this material that you wouldn't know what to do with really. And I guess it's getting it back into the supply chain and maybe, you know, you guys picking it up and turning it, putting it into one big and then selling it on for Selling it on for customers?

So without going into too much detail about it, we could offer the customer the opportunity to use it on-site or use it— or for us to collect it and use it to produce other material. But yes, that's a new phase of product development we're looking at.

Okay, brilliant, brilliant. Well, thank you so much for today, and thank you for coming on and talking to us about your product. I can't wait to see your journey and to find— just to see where you're going with it and where you end up, hopefully in every single restaurant.

Exactly. And we look like we're looking hopefully in the future to be on Kev's site. So, and it's going to do more for the environment. Yeah, sure, definitely.

Brilliant, Effei. Thank you so much for your time today. Thank you.

Yeah, cheers. Yeah, bye.

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