Addressing the Climate Crisis: It Begins With Turning Waste to Wealth

In the last few months, we’ve witnessed devastating floods in New Orleans, historic temperature highs across Europe, and a surge in migrants fleeing Central America thanks to a heat wave that is rendering many livelihoods untenable. And of course, the worst drought in 900 years preceded the Civil War in Syria, which has led to more than 5 million refugees.

In short, the climate crisis demands an immediate response.

Continued inaction on climate change not only threatens human lives but hurts the global economy. The UN estimates that if the world’s temperature warms by just 2.7 degrees, economic damage will total $54 trillion.

That’s why FullCycle is making it profitable to fight back: we believe the climate crisis represents the greatest economic opportunity of our lifetime. We’re an investment firm backing companies that can deploy proven, climate-restoring technologies now. Our view is simple yet profound: we can’t afford to wait for new technologies to develop — and we don’t need to.

Which is why our first investment was in Synova Power.

Based in the Netherlands, Synova uses cutting-edge technology to sustainably control waste — one of the world’s largest contributors of greenhouse gases — by converting that waste into a pure natural gas substitute. It’s about turning waste, which is a major global burden, into something extremely valuable for humanity. Fully deployed, Synova plants could generate nearly 15 percent of the world’s energy needs and save five gigatons of CO2 equivalent annually.

Since setting up its first facilities in 2012, Synova has quickly made plans to expand into Costa Rica, Thailand, and California. The company operates by partnering with a municipal government or industrial host to source a waste supply and arrange construction, or provide technology, to ensure that waste is redirected back to Synova facilities. Taken together, what they’re doing represents a systemic approach to a global waste management system — for developed and developing countries.

It’s truly disruptive, too. Synova’s technology costs less to install and operate, demands less resources, and creates minimal environmental impacts in comparison to conventional waste management systems. It matters, especially as the world’s population continues to grow. Right now, the amount of waste we produce is projected to expand to as much as 3.4 billion tons annually by mid-century.

So it’s a big challenge, and a big opportunity. That’s what excites our team.

That’s why we recently signed an agreement that gives FullCycle the right of first refusal to invest in Synova’s transformative projects totaling $1 billion in equity — because as a committed financing partner we can help power Synova’s next stage of growth, and accelerate the deployment of their proprietary technology.

Moving forward, our strategy is to replicate this type of opportunity in additional verticals including water, food, energy, and efficiency.

Waste is the beginning for us. And we’re optimistic that, over time, we can come together to solve the climate crisis.