TRU prof awarded $350K grant to turn waste into fertilizer

KAMLOOPS — Thompson Rivers University professor Dr. Kingsley Donkor is celebrating a first.

The chemistry professor is the first TRU researcher to ever receive a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Collaborative Research and Development Grant, this one valued at $350,000.

TRU says Donkor is investigating whether the waste from biomass generators can be converted into an effective fertilizer, with the goal of diverting material from the landfill, while also creating a product that has benefit to industry and to society as a whole.

TRU says the grant requires industrial partners, in this case Louisiana-Pacific, which provides the fly ash from its biomass plant, and Kingsclere Ranch, which has offered up to 400 acres. Both partners are based in Golden, B.C.