Meridian Waste Solutions commits to biomaterials joint venture

Meridian Waste Solutions Inc., a vertically integrated, nonhazardous solid waste services company based in Milton, Georgia, has announced the signing of a nonbinding term sheet with Advanced Lignin Biocomposites LLC.

Under the terms of the agreement, a joint venture would be formed between Meridian Waste, Meridian Innovations and Advanced Lignin to develop Advanced Lignin's biomaterials technology portfolio.

Advanced Lignin says it believes it has a viable pathway to produce low cost, high performance materials from lignin, an otherwise undervalued byproduct of the pulp and paper and cellulosic biorefining industries. Lignin is one of the most abundant organic polymers on earth and is readily available for recovery, according to the company. Advanced Lignin says it trusts that it can recover and convert lignin into higher value and better performing materials more cost effectively than those methods previously available.

While Advanced Lignin plans to use its advanced methods to more cost effectively produce many different materials, including adhesives, renewable fuels and carbon fiber, its initial focus will be to produce high-performance green plastics. Advanced Lignin has identified a pathway to produce green, lignin-based plastics that could ideally prove to cost less and outperform many plastics made from nonrenewable resources, such as petroleum.

The company notes, it takes about two pounds of petroleum to produce only one pound of plastic, whereas Advanced Lignin believes that it can displace about one pound of this petroleum-derived plastic with only about one pound of lignin and as a result, dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of plastic products.

"The solid waste industry has a responsibility to identify and maximize economic benefit from the materials it collects for processing and/or disposal," says Jeff Cosman, CEO of Meridian Waste. "The plastic recycling platform has been our industry's staple in its effort to contribute to environmentally friendly and sustainable solutions. While Meridian Waste will continue to support these traditional recycling efforts, we believe that there are additional pathways that can achieve significantly greater results in terms of sustainability and economic benefit. Our new joint venture will explore one such pathway as it essentially participates and contributes to nature's most efficient and ongoing carbon capture and recycling activities. We look forward to what lies ahead for our company and shareholders and will continue to announce our progress on an ongoing basis."