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34 entrepreneurs Sassow’s success turns waste into energy


Waste not, want not. Sandra Sassow lives by that motto, both at home and in her working life as the CEO and co-founder of SEaB Energy, an international specialist company working in the renewable energy and energy from waste sectors. Based at the University of Southampton Science Park, at Chilworth, it has developed Muckbuster and Flexibuster – compact, easy to install, turnkey Anaerobic Digestion (AD) systems in shipping containers


Involved from childhood in the USA in her family’s NYSE-listed environmental consulting firm and chemical manufacturing company, she has – in the past two decades – launched several products into new markets in Europe and the USA. With a growing number of women emerging in high profile ’clean tech’ careers, Sue Hughes of The Business Magazine met Sassow just before she left for the Clean and Cool Mission Brazil


Centralised large-scale AD could not be the only solution for converting organic waste to energy. Our solution has established market demand, at home and abroad. The systems are modular, easily configured and scalable to address food waste and other bio wastes directly at the sites of smaller waste producers, who typically generate between 200 and 1,000 tonnes of waste per year. There’s a big market for decentralised community solutions and we opted to go with that.


How did it grow from that point?


You have a manufacturing and business background by virtue of your family; was that where the earliest entrepreneurial seeds were sown?


Straight out of school my first job was with a large corporate, where I realised I wanted to work with fast-paced smaller companies. I considered being a doctor but I really couldn’t get over the sight of blood. I wanted to work where I gave something back, but it’s been in a non-medical field. Dad was an inventor and my entire family, which is large, is entrepreneurial. Dinner table conversation often turns to business at family gatherings. Just the nature of being an entrepreneur.


Why and how did you set up the business?


My husband Nick’s background was looking at renewable energy options for large oil and gas corporates, a niche marketplace which was not fully exploited. I have a BSc in Biology, but Nick developed our, now patented, highly- portable energy generator that turns food and bio-waste into energy, heat and revenue. There was obvious demand for a greater choice of distributed power generation options in the renewables sector and anaerobic digestion (AD) was the most attractive technology.


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There’s so much interest in what we’re doing that we have been very responsive to inbound enquiries. Besides Europe and the US, our systems have seen increased appeal in developing countries, where the electricity supply is unstable and expensive, and within island nations as they tackle growing waste issues and reduce their reliance on imported fuel. As first to market with a mobile solution, we have attracted worldwide attention. There is more interest in clean tech investment as fuel costs face ongoing rises. We need to decentralise how we manage waste conversion, to offset pollution, and turn it into energy. It has applications for the World Health Organisation, disaster recovery and so many sectors.


What is the most notable achievement so far?


I have commented in the past that it’s taking a mindshare in the industry and modifying it to create a niche for ourselves with a redistribution in the balance of power by allowing everyone to create their own energy and become sustainable. The waste and energy sector was highly controlled by big players and only available to businesses on a large scale. It is evolving and we are playing an active role in that. We are working with a housing association in the UK, so that it does not haul away waste, but uses it to create energy. In the USA market our units can be used to lower fuel poverty costs. An energy mix can blend solar, offshore and wind, waste, but we are a different animal. People need to appreciate that waste has a value and that they have access to it. The hotel here on the Science Park turns its food waste into renewable energy using our units. Many businesses, especially in the food production and hospitality sectors, are realising the potential of managing bio-waste on-site. They can save money by doing away


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – DECEMBER13/JANUARY14


with collection and disposal, and convert waste into electricity, which they can use or sell back to the grid. It makes sound economic sense and reduces their carbon footprint.


Where is the company going in the next three to five years?


The focus is on selling products, but if more cash was available then I see geographies where our units are needed. Look at islands which ship in water and ship out their waste – waste which could be used to desalinate water. Our average domestic waste travels 70 miles on collection, in a truck getting around 3mpg, stopping and starting. That is so much energy being wasted. We need to think back to a century ago when containers were reusable, not plastic, and ask ’why we are sending waste so far?’ Social entrepreneurship is important to me, but it will follow in good time because I want to see our company firmly established and making a big impact in waste, energy and managing pollution. Our ultimate goal is to create a source of energy where we can bring electrification, sewage treatment and clean water to remote village areas all over the world.


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