Our History & Successes

The efficacy of worm castings has been well documented in countries around the world and is a well established North American cottage industry with a vast following of garden enthusiasts and environmentalists. The challenge to date has been how to produce this premium organic fertilizer on a large enough scale to provide an alternative to the use of less environmentally sensitive synthetic fertilizers. Our leadership team has worked extensively for a number of years to realize this goal.


TerraCycle - Liquid Worm Casting Fertilizer

Our initial vermicasting venture involved refining and developing the business plan for TerraCycle - an early entrant into the large scale production and retail distribution of worm castings 'tea' (a liquid organic fertilizer derived from the vermicasting process). Using advanced vermicasting technology, organic waste destined for landfills is converted to liquid plant food in just three weeks.


reWorks Inc. - now Forterra Inc.

Given our interests in larger agricultural markets and the benefits of direct applications of worm castings (as opposed to liquid castings tea), we undertook to demonstrate the feasibility of building and operating a large, commercial scale, in-door facility for producing high volumes of worm castings (reWorks Inc. - now Forterra Inc.). Now, after two years in development, the Forterra plant processes pre-consumer vegetable waste which ensures that the end product gains quick and ready access to markets requiring “organic certification”. On-going independent research by University of Guelph research staff further ensures product quality and compliance with organic standards. The operation is now fully functional with sales of worm castings growing and the company providing an environmentally safe alternative to the use of synthetic fertilizers on a large scale. Having just recently gone public (REW) Forterra Inc. is now developing the infrastructure and staffing necessary for significantly increasing production to address the growing organic market needs in the southern Ontario region.


CSRplus - SUSTAINABLE ORGANIC WASTE RECYCLING

CSRplus Vermicast Industries represents a significant expansion in our thinking about organic waste management and environmental sustainability. The company was created to address the growing concerns at all levels about the recycling of municipal and agricultural organic waste streams. In the context of agricultural sustainability, these waste streams represent a significant resource if they can be recycled as opposed to being land-filled or incinerated.

CSRplus is a second generation vermicasting business with the vision of designing, building and managing scalable organic waste recycling facilities in major municipalities across Canada and the US. The operation has been specifically designed to handle a wide range of more challenging organic wastes including semi-dried sewage sludge, septage and mortalities. The company is building on the successes at Forterra Inc., and has made some significant advances in the initial patented technology and the science processes required to handle “dirtier” waste streams.


SUSTAINABILITY FUNDING

Our leadership team is committed to addressing the challenges of organic waste management while pursuing ways of realizing environmental, economic and community sustainability. As a result, a key element of the CSRplus business plan involves development of financial revenue streams for supporting a wide range of community sustainability initiatives. In brief - converting community organic 'waste' into community sustainability resources.