By Tatiana Bautzer
SAO PAULO, July 16 (Reuters) - A month-old Brazilian
company's machines that use bacteria to break down organic waste
has found users among domestic upscale supermarket Natural da
Terra, units of Reckitt Benckiser and Siemens AG
, and logistics firm Luft, its chief executive said on
Thursday.
Bioconverter, which launched in June as companies sought to
cut waste management costs during the pandemic, is in talks to
lease its machines to other supermarket chains in Brazil and
Mexico, said CEO and founder Nelson Libbos, one of the company's
nine partners, in an interview.
The company may also enter the U.S. market, where some
states are expected to begin restricting organic waste disposal,
he added.
"Companies need to cut costs in the COVID pandemic, and
waste management of organic residues is expensive," Libbos said.
Bioconverter uses bacteria to transform food and other
organic matter into water that may be discarded in sewage
systems or used in agricultural irrigation, complying with
environmental regulations. A bacteria mix is used in its
machines to degrade organic residue within 24 hours.
Processing waste where it is produced reduces costs that
usually include refrigerating the residues before transportation
and the cost of trucks to send it to landfills.
Bioconverter was planning its launch early this year when
the COVID pandemic hit Brazil.
All Bioconverter shareholders have healthcare careers.
Libbos, for example, has headed subsidiaries of international
firms in Brazil, such as Teva Pharmaceutical Industries
. Dirceu Barbano has led Anvisa, Brazil's top health
regulator, and Jose Roberto Corrales owns a drug and health
products distributor.
(Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer; Editing by Richard Chang)
