Agricultural waste is typically burned, buried, or left in the fields or in landfills to decompose, releasing carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere and polluting ecosystems. A startup emerging from Western University’s Institute for Chemicals & Fuels from Alternative Resources (ICFAR) believes that the same waste could be a tool for tackling climate change.
Co-founded by Western researchers Stephanos Horvers, PhD’25 (CEO), chemical engineering professor and director of ICFAR, Franco Berruti (CFO), and Javier Ordoñez (CTO), who at the time was a postdoctoral researcher at ICFAR, ITER Technologies has developed a self-sustaining reactor that converts agricultural, forestry and industrial waste, including, woody residues, shells, husks, and stems, into a charcoal-like material called biochar. The same process can also carbonize other wastes such as mixed non-recyclable plastics, rubber and sludges.
The company has recently received an investment of $150,000, bringing total raised capital to $250,000, with additional committed investments coming in the near future. ITER is in advanced discussions to install numerous reactors throughout Ontario in the very near future, including London, Muskoka, Parry Island, and near Collingwood, as well as abroad. A larger-scale reactor is set to be installed near Ingersoll.
Horvers was also part of the Graduate Student Innovation Scholars (GSIS) Program, which was created in partnership with Morrissette Entrepreneurship and the Western Technology Transfer Office (formerly WORLDiscoveries®). Through the program, graduate students explore the commercial viability of technology developed and hosted at Western and learn how entrepreneurship and ideas of commercialization can provide new avenues for researchers to pursue.
Horvers credits the experience for helping him explore his entrepreneurial potential through his research lens.
From research to real-world application
Biochar technology emerged from years of research and collaboration involving Western faculty, students, and postdoctoral researchers at ICFAR in partnership with industry and government agencies, and focusing on developing technologies that transform waste such as organic byproducts and plastics into biofuels, bioproducts, and alternative chemicals.
The co-founders’ partnership began during their time at ICFAR, when Javier Ordonez was working as a postdoctoral researcher, and Horvers was completing his PhD under Berruti’s supervision. Berruti attributes the speed of ITER’s commercialization to Western’s Carbon Solutions' program, which brings together researchers to develop innovative methods of removing carbon from the atmosphere while creating value-added opportunities.
Created by heating organic waste at high temperatures without oxygen in a process called pyrolysis, the resulting biochar can be used in a wide range of industries to effectively filter water contaminants, reduce methane generated by animals, and trap carbon in the soil to reduce emissions and improve plant growth. By stabilizing carbon that would otherwise return to the atmosphere, biochar offers a way to convert agricultural byproducts into a resource for both environmental remediation and industrial use. The co-products of biochar are hydrocarbon gases and vapours that can be combusted to generate the energy for the process itself, thus making it self-sustaining.
Bringing their project beyond Western’s campus, ITER Technologies partnered with Colombian manufacturer JCT Calderas in March 2024 to develop their “Valentina” reactor, designing and producing it in-house in four months. Within one year, the reactor was operational at a commercial scale. The reactor was showcased at a 2025 Biochar Conference in Colombia, attracting interest from investors.
The company has continued to develop their biochar technology to optimize its use in industrial applications, specifically concerning the containment of toxic contaminants, including Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), so-called the ‘forever chemicals’.
ITER Technologies serves as an exciting case study for the kinds of research-to-market transitions supported by Western initiatives such as ICFAR and Carbon Solutions. Their reactor highlights how technological innovation, brought about by meticulous research, can be used to solve broader issues and generate value-added opportunities.