Imagine a process that generates its own energy to operate. It converts waste into a substance that improves soil health, increases crop yield and filters contaminants - all while reducing greenhouse gases. Three Western researchers are not only imagining it, they're leading a venture that's doing just that.
"After years of research, we decided it was time to grow beyond the lab and use our expertise in creating sustainable, value-added products to make an impact globally," said Stephanos Horvers, a postdoctoral researcher in chemical engineering.
Horvers, originally from Greece, came to Western from the Netherlands and completed his PhD under the supervision of chemical engineering professor Franco Berruti, the director of Western's Institute for Chemicals and Fuels from Alternative Resources (ICFAR). The Institute develops technologies to turn waste such as agricultural byproducts and plastics into biofuels and alternative chemicals.
Franco Berruti (left) and Stephanos Horvers, two of the three co-founders of ITER Technologies, examine the chemical composition of biochar in the lab at Western's Institute for Chemicals and Fuels from Alternative Resources. (Colleen MacDonald/Western News)
ICFAR expands beyond traditional campus labs by moving research from the benchtop to large demonstration projects, creating materials that industry partners test to assess their potential.
"Our research was always keeping us on the leading edge. We ended up developing a technology we got really excited about," Berruti said. "I told my students, 'Rather than finishing your studies and looking for a job to work for someone else, why don't you work for yourself?'"
Horvers embraced the entrepreneurial challenge and co-founded ITER Technologies (ITER), becoming CEO, alongside Berruti (CFO) and research colleague Javier Ordoñez (CTO), who's currently doing postdoctoral work in the Netherlands. The founders share a vision for sustainability that guided numerous collaborations leading to their ITER startup.
"We've always been driven by a desire to advance circular economies where waste isn't treated as a burden, but as a resource to help meet the needs of a growing global population and mitigate climate change," Horvers said.
Biochar technology converts waste to value
ITER takes agricultural waste such as stems, shells, husks and other crop residue and converts it into biochar, a charcoal-like substance. When biochar is added to soil, it retains nutrients, supports micro-organisms and improves plant growth. It sequesters carbon from the plant material that would have otherwise been released into the atmosphere during decomposition. Biochar's stability keeps the carbon in the soil for hundreds of years. When added to animal feed, it decreases methane generation.
Biochar made from hazelnut shells is one way ITER Technologies turns agricultural waste into a valuable product that also captures carbon. (Colleen MacDonald/Western News)
"This is the least expensive and most effective way to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, because we are using nature," Berruti said.
To create biochar, ITER uses a process called pyrolysis - heating organic matter at high temperatures without oxygen. While pyrolysis isn't new, ITER has optimized biochar technology to create highly specialized variations of biochar.
"We can effectively upgrade organic waste by engineering biochar to behave in specific ways. That opens doors for applications such as filtration, water purification and pollutant absorption," Berruti explained.
The team's critical breakthrough lies in the design of its reactor that distributes heat evenly during pyrolysis. This ensures the biochar is completely free of toxins with uniform physical and chemical composition throughout each batch - an essential requirement for high-value industrial applications.
Scaling biochar technology through global partnerships
Their design was turned into a small prototype reactor with the help of Western's University Machine Services. Once the prototype was successfully producing biochar, the team needed an industry partner to scale up. Ordoñez drew on his strong ties in Colombia, leading to ITER's partnership with JCT Calderas, a Colombian manufacturer with decades of experience building equipment for processing biomass.
"With their experience in combustion and our experience in pyrolysis, we thought it was the perfect marriage," Berruti said. "We teamed up with them in March 2024 to build a commercial-size demo of our technology in Colombia. In just four months, we had a design. A year later, we went down to see the 'Valentina' reactor in action."
The team from JCT Calderas in Colombia helped build and refine Valentina, the prototype reactor that brings ITER's biochar technology to commercial scale. (Submitted)
The Colombian company distinguished itself for quickly mobilizing the required logistics, managing all production in-house and working through problems with the Valentina prototype with efficient expertise.
"They went above and beyond our expectations," Horvers said. "They immediately addressed any problems they encountered to get it right. They even built a comprehensive control system that detects all possible hazards and automatically takes corrective action," Horvers said.
In May 2025, Berruti organized a biochar technology conference in Colombia, where investors from 36 countries across the globe previewed ITER's technology. At the same time, Valentina was further refined until it ran flawlessly. The reactor needs only a small amount of propane to get started, then it runs self-sustainably - generating its own power - while producing biochar at commercial scale.
"A recent test run produced 405 kilograms of biochar in three days without requiring external fuel," Horvers said. "The excess energy we recover from the combustion of vapors and gases is triple the amount used in pyrolysis. This heat, along with the carbon dioxide and water produced by the combustion, can be pumped into greenhouses, providing the perfect growing conditions."
New applications for biochar additive
The team is especially excited about exploring uses for biochar in industries beyond agriculture. Research shows it strengthens the structural properties of cement, increases the yield in biogas production and filters more effectively than fossil-based activated carbon, a valuable attribute for removing forever chemicals.
"They're nasty chemicals that cannot be broken down naturally in nature. They contaminate soil and groundwater, where they stay forever," Horvers said. "We are applying for a grant to fund how we can modify the production parameters of biochar so it specifically absorbs these chemicals."
Berruti believes a major problem in modern wastewater treatment could also be mitigated with biochar.
"Water treatment plants do a very good job, but they weren't built to filter the type of contaminants we're seeing today - not just forever chemicals, but pharmaceuticals and hormones. We could engineer biochars tailored to remove specific pollutants that wouldn't otherwise be filtered out during treatment."
In addition to filtration, the team says biochar has the potential to reverse course on the vast islands of plastic waste accumulating in the oceans. A major obstacle to cleaning up ocean plastic is that it's impractical to recycle - the debris is a mix of many plastic types that can't be separated into identifiable streams.
"By adding a specific engineered biochar to the mixed plastics, we could make them compatible to be blended together, so all the recovered plastic could be used to produce new products," Horvers said.
Expanding biochar reactors across Ontario
While promising future applications await, ITER is currently in advanced discussions with clients across North America to potentially install biochar reactors in four Ontario locations: London, Muskoka, Parry Island and near Collingwood.
"By the end of the year, we think at least one unit will be built, and possibly as many as three," Berruti said.
The success of ITER was due in part to Western's Carbon Solutions program, Berruti said.
"Carbon Solutions was fundamental to getting us to where we are now. It brought faculty, students and postdocs together so we could find ways to remove carbon from the atmosphere and create value-added opportunities."
With its technology now operating at commercial scale and attracting global interest, the ITER team is even more energized by the potential for science-driven entrepreneurship to reshape industries and help build a more sustainable future.
"Biochar technology is unlocking whole new avenues to decarbonize industrial processes and reduce the waste they produce while increasing production. The possibilities are almost endless."
