Enerkem receives loan for new waste-to-fuel biorefinery

Canada-based waste to biofuels producer Enerkem has been given an $80 million (€59 million) loan guarantee by the US Department of Agriculture to go towards building a new waste-to-biofuels project in Pontotoc, Mississippi.

The new development will help to transform municipal solid waste from the north-east of the region into ethanol.

The loan comes after the US Department of Energy gave $50 million towards the project at the end of 2009.

The facility will be located on the Three Rivers landfill site and is anticipated to create 70 new jobs for locals. The biorefinery will produce 10 million litres of ethanol a year to begin with, sorting municipal solid waste and reducing pressure to landfill.

Enerkem’s president and CEO Vincent Chornet says the financing ‘demonstrates the confidence in Enerkem as a company equipped to drive the waste-to-biofuels movement across North America and beyond’.

'We are thrilled with the resounding assurance that we continue to earn from leading government and private investors. We are committed to helping communities reduce reliance on fossil fuels, create jobs, and decrease landfills, with Enerkem’s innovative solution,' he says.

US Senator Thad Cochran says the project will help to ‘reduce waste and develop renewable energy jobs in rural Mississippi’.

Enerkem uses its clean technology to convert waste, such as unrecyclable household rubbish, demolition debris and residues from used utility poles, into clean transportation fuels and advanced chemicals. The company already operates two plants in Canada. One is a pilot facility in Sherbrooke and the other is a commercial demonstration plant in Westbury.