Micron Waste Technologies has taken steps to advance its proprietary technology to treat the organic waste from medical cannabis cultivation on-site and in an environmentally friendly and cost-efficient manner.
Micron is a developer of proprietary digester solutions for the treatment of food and organic waste.
Speaking in a statement, the firm said it will develop an organic waste bioprocessing system targeted specifically towards handling medical cannabis organic waste materials, including leaves, twigs and stalk.
Already, it is testing a new type of nanocrystal that would be used in its proprietary 4 cycle filtration process. The nanocrystals are expected to further breakdown medical cannabis organic waste so that it can be turned into “gray water” and then later into clean water.
Micron’s Medical Cannabis Organic Waste Digester will be developed to handle the following waste from cultivation sites: waste from solid plant material, whether a usable plant trim or flower or unusable plant material, such as stalks, roots, or soil; any plant waste or extract that is not being used, because it does not meet quality assurance or has been contaminated in some way that would make it unusable in a safe and medical capacity; and liquids or water that could contaminate ground water due to pesticide use.
Cannabis plant waste management practices
Whether professional growers are producing dried buds or collecting resin for extraction, the steps of harvesting and processing creates by-products and waste that must be disposed of according to all applicable regulations.
Growers must be aware of and comply with the comprehensive regulatory scheme enacted by governing bodies to ensure that environmental protections and safety are in place.
Proper waste disposal regulations apply whether the grow operation is a caregiver for a few patients or a large-scale facility that supplies dispensaries. The legal responsibility is on growers to ensure proper disposal.
Waste disposal regulations have been slowly adopted and are being constantly updated through piecemeal legislation. This complex legal framework makes any generalizations about disposal requirements for growers difficult, because compliance must be followed on a federal, provincial/state and municipal level, and it varies widely.
“This is a valuable opportunity to bring together research and development efforts from both Micron Waste and our development partners to deliver an urgently needed organic waste treatment system for the medical cannabis cultivation industry that meets Health Canada Cannabis Waste disposal requirements,” said Dr Bharat Bhushan, Chief Technology Officer of Micron Waste.
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