The effluent from the bioreactors and paper and vegetable oil mills has high turbidity and creates a threat to waterways from pollution.

Furthermore, plant secondary compounds including lignin end up in the effluent and are wasted.

This New Zealand innovation to recover biomaterial from effluent can create an opportunity out of environmental liability.

Biofuel reactors discharge 3 to 6 litres of effluent for every 1 litre of ethanol produced.

In New Zealand, a Paper Mill can discharge 6 million litres per day,(69m3/tonne processed in canada) (usa 17 - 50m3/tonne).

In palm oil mills typically 1.5 m3 water is used for every tonne of fruit processed. From this 50% is discharged as palm oil mill effluent.

The market opportunity is therefore large.