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9 March/April 2024 | THE DAVEY BULLETIN A new facility designed to process clients' wood waste from Chicago-area Residential/Commercial (R/C) services offices into biochar is now open in East Dundee, Illinois. "Biochar is a carbon-rich, charcoal-like substance that offers many benefits when incorporated into the soil, which include resistance to soil compaction, improvement of infiltration and retention of water, preservation of nutrients, and the absorption of salts," said Jim Zwack, vice president and general manager, Davey Institute. Mike Veney, director, environmental programs, Davey Institute, said biochar locks up carbon for thousands of years. It is more than simply charred mulch. The biochar kiln uses pyrolysis, meaning the wood waste is processed at a high heat, up to 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit, with low oxygen. The high heat process destroys pollutants; meanwhile, what burns off is steam, resulting in near zero emissions. "Brian Borkowicz, project developer, Davey Business Development Team, and I had been looking at biochar, evaluating how that fits in with Davey and disposal of biomass, " Veney said. "Kevin Cassells, district manager, Edmonton Residential office, Davey Tree Expert Co. of Canada, Limited, told us he ran a pilot with kiln company BioMass Energy Techniques Inc. (BET), so we set up a meeting with BET." BIOCHAR FACILITY OPENS IN EAST DUNDEE TO UPCYCLE WOOD WASTE, REDUCE CARBON FOOTPRINT Making the biochar facility a reality was a collaboration between the Davey Institute and the Residential/Commercial services' mulch business in Chicago. Nate Conn, district manager, Lombard Wood Products office, manages the East Dundee biochar facility. He and five employees from the Lombard Wood Products office were part of the team who dug the foundation for the building and helped pour the concrete. The Lombard Wood Products office team, including equipment operators Salvador Caracheo, Nathan Ehrenhaft, and Cory Piotrowski; as well as Matthew Haney, production coordinator; and Richard Haney, production manager, pick up, transport, and feed clients' wood waste from 12 Chicago-area R/C services offices into the biochar kiln. "We can now turn this into a biomass solution for Davey, which is super exciting. The beautiful thing about biochar and why I'm so engaged with this project is it lessens our carbon footprint as a company, and aligns with Davey's sustainability goals," Conn said. "Biochar production is a really good way to take gas that is emitted into the atmosphere, turn it back into locked-up carbon and put that back into the ground where it will offer great soil composition as well as being used in different products like concrete, paper bricks, and plastics, and all types of things that can be palletized." VISION Left: Nate Conn, district manager, Lombard Wood Products office, is pictured with a handful of biochar at the East Dundee, Illinois, biochar kiln facility. Above: Wood waste is mulched to prepare it for processing through the biochar kiln.

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