Meridian Waste Solutions’ Attis Innovations Strikes Partnerships in Florida to Create Biomass Value from Rogued Citrus Tree...
14 March 2018 - 10:00PM
Enormous Untapped Opportunity in Citrus
Trees as a Feedstock
Meridian Waste Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRDN) (“Meridian Waste” or
the “Company” and recently announced name change to “Attis
Industries, Inc.”), an innovative technology company, today
announced that its subsidiary, Attis Innovations, is actively
working with the Gulf Citrus Growers Association and the University
of Florida Southwest Florida Research and Education Center to
evaluate citrus trees as a feedstock for its proprietary biomass
processing technology. The Attis biorefining technology can
efficiently separate and convert biomass into high value, high
volume commodities, such as cellulose, glucose, cellulosic ethanol,
furfural and a melt-flowable form of lignin that disperses
efficiently into plastics.
Since 2005, the Florida citrus industry has been
struggling to combat a disease known as "greening", a bacterium
that is spread by common bugs called psyllids. Once a citrus
tree is exposed to the bacteria its lifespan and productivity are
nearly cut in half. As a result, trees are "rogued" or
extracted and burned at a rate of roughly 10-20% per year, almost
ten times the normal rate of 1-2% annually. Attempts to
eradicate the disease have thus far been unsuccessful to date, with
the fallout having a negative impact on both citrus production and
revenue for the industry.
Through a partnership with the Gulf Citrus
Growers Association and the University of Florida, Attis
Innovations is working aggressively to develop a system to create
new jobs and value from rogued citrus trees and their
byproducts. Attis Innovations estimates that from the roughly
350,000 acres of citrus groves in southwest Florida, there are
roughly 7 million trees rogued each year. Assuming the
average weight of the rogued trees is about 250 pounds, this leaves
about 875,000 tons of trees being rogued and destroyed
annually.
Attis expects that by fully deploying its
biorefining technology in this region that approximately 125 high
quality, well paying refinery jobs could be created while the
business generates more than $115 million in EBITDA on invested
capital of less than approximately $300 million. A key
component of Attis’s technology is the ability to build cost
effective facilities at small scale to match feedstock supplies and
available capital. Attis expects that the total citrus tree
plan would be built out over five projects at approximately $60
million each.
"The greening disease that has been affecting
the citrus industry in Florida over the last 12 years has created a
considerable strain on the profitability of citrus growers," said
Ron Hamel, Executive Director of the Gulf Citrus Growers
Association.
“These are exactly the type of applications and
impact we look to have on our communities,” commented Attis
Industries Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Cosman. “The construction
and operations of just one system at one-fifth of the citrus scale
would create incomes of equivalent to about $1 per share.
This is one of many applications we wish to engage in to grow our
company while creating high quality, sustainable jobs. The
USDA estimates that there is more than 1-Billion tons of biomass
available in the United States available for processing without
disruption to the current food supply. This particular citrus
application in southwest Florida represents less than 0.1% of the
available feedstock for this purpose.”
Mr. Cosman added, “We wish to form partnerships
with our feedstock suppliers and/or joint venture agreements to
incentivize the creation of long lasting sustainable businesses
where feedstock supplies are secured and economics preserved.
These partnerships provide a win-win opportunity as the feedstock
suppliers and rural economies benefit greatly from the additional
incomes generated from otherwise undervalued materials while the
Meridian shareholders are rewarded through the incomes generated by
the technology investments they’ve made and will continue to
make. We are actively in discussions with feedstock producers
in several states to further advance this model.”
Mr. Cosman concluded, “Mining value from
otherwise low value feedstocks to create new found wealth and jobs
is our mission. We greatly appreciate the efforts of Ron
Hamel and Dr. Calvin Arnold, director of the Southwest Florida
Research and Education Center, a department of the University of
Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, and excited
about the potential source of income to our shareholders and the
Florida citrus industry.”
About Meridian Waste Solutions, Inc. /
Attis IndustriesMeridian Waste Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:
MRDN) is a company defined by our commitment to servicing our
customers with unwavering respect, fairness and care. We are
focused on finding and implementing solutions for the resource
needs and challenges of our customers with a fundamental objective
to seek rewarding solutions through technology and innovation. Our
healthcare business centers on creating community-based synergies
through collaborations and software solutions. Our innovation
business (www.attisinnovations.com) strives to create value from
recovered resources. For more information, visit
www.mwsinc.com.
Forward-Looking StatementsAny
statements contained in this press release that do not describe
historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as that
term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. You can identify forward-looking statements by words such as
“anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,”
“may,” “plan,” “should,” “would” or similar words. You should
consider these statements carefully because they discuss our plans,
targets, strategies, prospects and expectations concerning our
business, operating results, financial condition and other similar
matters. These statements are subject to certain risks,
uncertainties, and assumptions, including, but not limited to,
risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's ability to
develop, market and sell products based on its technology; the
expected benefits and efficacy of the Company's products and
technology; the availability of substantial additional funding for
the Company to continue its operations and to conduct research and
development, clinical studies and future product commercialization;
and, the Company's business, research, product development,
regulatory approval, marketing and distribution plans and
strategies, the Company’s completion of the sale of its solid waste
business; the ability of the Company to continue to meet the
listing requirements of NASDAQ; the ability of the Company to
execute on a business plan that permits the technologies and
innovations businesses to provide sufficient growth, revenue,
liquidity and cash flows for sustaining the Company’s go-forward
business, and the risks identified and discussed under the caption
“Risk Factors” in the Meridian Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on April 17, 2017 and amended on
May 31, 2017 and the other documents Meridian files with the SEC
from time to time. There will be events in the future, however,
that Meridian is not able to predict accurately or control.
Meridian’s actual results may differ materially from the
expectations that Meridian describes in its forward-looking
statements. Factors or events that could cause Meridian’s actual
results to materially differ may emerge from time to time, and it
is not possible for Meridian to accurately predict all of them. Any
forward-looking statement made by Meridian in this press release
speaks only as of the date on which Meridian makes it. Meridian
undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise, except as required by law.
Media and Investors Contact:
Hayden IR
ir@meridianwastesolutions.com
(917) 658-7878
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