In July 2016, the Founder and Executive Chairman of FOR Solutions LLC, Dr. Nicholas J. Smith-Sebasto, contacted GSM Industrial in search of a new option to manufacture his patented industrial composting systems.
Dr. Nick used two different companies to manufacture his industrial composting systems but wasn’t completely satisfied with the results. When he turned to GSM Industrial for help, we did all we could to learn about his unique product and how we could meet his needs.
Click photo to enlarge
Dr. Nick’s prototype of an industrial composting system had been in operation for over seven years and had turned more than 560,000 lbs. of food scraps into high-quality compost. His composting process takes just five days, compared to an average of three months to a year for traditional systems.
After using three other commercially available composters and investigating many more, he developed his prototype. His first effort to recover and recycle uneaten food was at a residential environmental education center that was spending a tremendous amount of money to have the trash hauled away from dumpsters attracting the local black bear population. Dr. Nick purchased a commercially available composter, but it failed to live up to the provider’s claims.
Dr. Nick moved to the parent campus, a large Mid-Atlantic university. His efforts to explore and describe the benefits of on-site recovery and recycling of uneaten food continued in a more urban setting. He purchased a commercially available composter that worked better than the previous one, but it still had many limitations and design liabilities.
After experimenting with a third composter, Dr. Nick realized that he should use his experience to design his own composting system. He was awarded a United States Patent for his aerobic in-vessel rotary drum composting system in 2014.
Since installing the prototype at another university where Dr. Nick was an administrator and faculty member, the composting system has processed more than 560,000 lbs. of food, saving over tens of thousands of dollars in waste disposal fees. The high-quality, nutrient-dense compost has been used throughout the campus for landscaping purposes and on an associated farm.
The system has produced compost with a market value of nearly $30,000. The waste management savings and the compost value have provided a fantastic return on investment and return on the environment for the university.
FOR Solutions, LLC is hard at work turning unwanted food scraps into a replenishable natural resource with the power to revitalize the earth’s soil. Its mission plays a significant role in the sustainability movement.
Landfills are reaching their capacity and causing environmental problems with their methane emissions and leachate. Landfill-tipping fees and hauling fees are steadily increasing, making composting a valuable alternative solution for educational facilities, military installations, correctional facilities, and other locations with large food courts.
“Working with GSM Industrial was a breeze. I appreciated the one-stop-shop aspect as well as the quick responses and thoughtful collaboration.”
Dr. Nicholas J. Smith-Sebasto, Founder and Executive Chairman of FOR Solutions LLC
After learning about Dr. Nick’s incredible composting systems and mission, we were excited to get to work and see how our metal fabrication and field installation teams could help.
Dr. Nick needed a company that could assist him in making subtle tweaks to his design and develop a more detailed shop drawing of his composting systems. He also needed to work with a company that could handle all of his industrial compost systems’ fabrication, welding, machining, and assembly.
To accomplish everything, this job required a facility that could provide enough square footage for subcontractors to work on things like adding controls to the control panel while it was being manufactured.
We provided Dr. Nick and FOR Solutions with a one-stop shop that maintained a seamless manufacturing process in true GSM fashion. GSM Industrial has now manufactured three of the five standard composting systems that FOR Solutions offers. We have also begun installing these industrial composting systems for Dr. Nick and his team.
At GSM Industrial, we value strong partnerships and working with FOR Solutions provided just that. We don’t claim to be experts in making compost from food, but we can use our skills and experience to build things to make it happen!
