Next Cycle Michigan awarded its 2023 People’s Choice award to Zack Osborn for his bioenergy project mini organics recycler. His creation is made of repurposed plastic and recycles organic waste and water. It is made with simple supplies, doesn’t require glue or fancy tools, and is relatively inexpensive which increases access to Osborn’s recycler. It can be used in a number of different ways: a portable wastewater treatment system, an anaerobic digester that takes livestock waste and converts it into biogas energy, a system to turn food waste into fertilizer, or an aquaponic system by adding fish.

Osborn has also partnered with Copper Island Academy and received a $10,000 grant award to start a swine program at the school allowing their cafeteria to compost all food waste year-round (including winter) while raising pigs and poultry at the school.

His next step is to pursue grants that expand composting access across Houghton County, including a collaboration he hopes will bring on-site processing of fish waste at the Ojibwa Tribal Farm ‘DIGS’ in L’Anse.

While he hopes to use his bioenergy organics recycler here locally, he envisions his organics recycler being used more globally to deliver fast deployable and affordable, portable wastewater treatment to developing countries and disaster areas.

For more information or to pre-order his first-generation models coming out soon, contact Osborn at zackosborn@gmail.com or go to the website: www.bioenergyproject.net