In the United States (US), WastAway LLC, a subsidiary of Bouldin Corporation and a green tech company that converts municipal solid waste (MSW) to fuel, has announced that it has been granted a US patent for its entire waste-to-fuel process, bringing the total number of US and international patents to 26.
The new process patent granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) – announced at the 2025 Biogas Americas conference – covers WastAway’s entire technology suite that transforms municipal solid waste (MSW) into clean, negative carbon footprint alternative fuels and other sustainable products in about 30 minutes, achieving 85 percent landfill diversion.
We are excited that our entire WastAway process has now been patented, further cementing our position as a leading innovator in the marketplace. Our proprietary technologies and processes are world-class, and nobody in the industry does what we do, said Mark Brown, CEO of WastAway.
Recycling and renewable fuels
WastAway plants process 400 tonnes of household trash daily. It begins on the tipping floor, where MSW is prepared for recycling into sustainable fuel.
The material goes through a series of grinders, shredders, infrared and AI sorters, air knives, and other technologies that remove metals, plastics, and glass for recycling.
The remaining MSW is loaded into high-pressure steam technology chambers called “Cellulators” that transform the primarily plant-based material into consistent, sterile, sustainable feedstock called Cellulate.
Some is used for soil enrichment additives and composite building materials.
The rest of the Cellulate travels into modern, high-tech anaerobic digestors where microbes further break down the organic component of the feedstock, producing biogas.
Following digestion, the Cellulate is further processed into sustainable solid engineered fuel “SE3”, a high-BTU coal replacement suitable for industries, including cement kilns, power plants, steel mills, pulp mills, and other solid fuel consumers.
Two waste-to-fuel plants are in advanced planning stages
WastAway is poised for explosive growth in the coming years. Construction on two major waste-to-fuel plants is in the planning stages.
One in Murfreesboro, Tennessee (TN), that will divert 85 percent of the city’s trash from the Middle Point Landfill in an industrial area of the city’s south side.
The second is in Kern County, California (CA), near Bakersfield. It, too, will divert 85 percent of the waste processed into renewable fuel and other beneficial products.
The two plants will cost an estimated US$210 million to build, and each will process 400 tonnes of MSW per day.
