Turning Trash to Treasure with Generate Upcycle

Aug 21, 2023

Bill Caesar, President at Generate Upcycle, discusses how their subsidiary diverts organic waste from landfills and produces renewable fuels, electricity, and organic fertilizers. They explore the relationship between Generate Upcycle and Generate Capital, discuss the challenges of the recycling industry and the shift towards upcycling. The podcast also covers the technologies used by Generate Upcycle, including anaerobic digestion, composting, and wastewater treatment, and the potential for anaerobic digesters to divert waste from landfills.

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Introduction

00:00 • 2min

Exploring the Relationship between Generate Upcycle and Generate Capital

01:52 • 3min

From Recycling to Waste-to-Value: A Journey in Sustainability

04:31 • 19min

Turning Waste into Valuable Materials: Logistics, Processing, and Selling

23:53 • 2min

Anaerobic Digestion, Composting, and Wastewater Treatment

26:21 • 11min

Tipping Fees and Market Dynamics

37:38 • 15min

Connecting with Generate Upcycle and the Importance of Food Waste in Climate Change

52:52 • 2min

Bill Caesar is President at Generate Upcycle, a subsidiary of Generate Capital.

Generate Upcycle reduces the environmental footprint of businesses, farms, cities and consumers by diverting organic waste from landfills and producing renewable fuels, electricity, and organic fertilizers. Bill's journey from the CIA to McKinsey to waste management, culminating in his role at Generate, is fascinating.

Cody and Bill talk about his journey and break down Generate Upcycle's key businesses, including anaerobic digestion, composting and mechanical vapor recompression, a relatively new method of wastewater management. Lastly, the conversation touches on areas that Bill is eyeing as disruptive technologies on the horizon. As the world population continues to grow, so will our waste footprint, and by finding profitable and lower emissions means of harnessing and reusing our waste, Generate Upcycle is betting that they can turn trash into treasure.

In this episode we cover:

[02:08]: Generate Upcycle's relationship with Generate Capital
[04:30]: Bill's background: Russian studies, CIA, McKinsey, waste management
[07:11]: His experience in waste management and recycling
[14:01]: Moving from waste to Generate Capital
[17:50] Bill's confidence in the anaerobic digestion business
[23:08] His "waste to value" work at Generate Upcycle
[26:21] An overview of anaerobic digestion
[27:22] Generate's composting business
[28:55] The company's wastewater treatment business
[31:57] Logistics challenges in anaerobic digestion
[37:47] Tipping fees
[39:52] The percentage of waste going to landfills and the climate impact
[43:44] Landfill diversion incentives
[46:54] The energy outputs of Generate's digesters
[50:44] What's on the horizon for Generate Upcycle and how folks can get in touch

Get connected:
Bill Caesar Twitter / LinkedIn
Cody Simms Twitter / LinkedIn
MCJ Podcast / Collective

*You can also reach us via email at info@mcjcollective.com, where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on Jul 26, 2023 (Published on Aug 21, 2023)

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant