374Water Inc (NASDAQ:SCWO) CEO Chris Gannon talked with Proactive about the company’s growing momentum in its Waste Destruction Services (WDS) business and the global demand for its AirSCWO technology.
Gannon said the company is seeing "an immense amount of demand" for its waste destruction services, particularly from municipalities, state and federal government agencies, and industrial clients.
The company’s AirSCWO systems can effectively destroy a wide range of organic waste — including biosolids and PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals.”
Proactive: Hello, you're watching Proactive. Joining me is 374Water Inc CEO Chris Gannon. Chris, very good to speak with you again. You've just announced strong momentum for your waste destruction services model. How does WDS expand your revenue potential beyond selling equipment? And what kind of demand are you seeing from municipalities and also industry?
Chris Gannon: Thanks so much for having me. In terms of the waste destruction service category of our business, we're seeing an immense amount of demand for that. As a reminder, our AirSCWO system is incredibly effective at destroying all manners of organic waste — that includes biosolids all the way through to PFAS, those forever chemicals that are so prevalent in our environment. Where we're seeing the massive opportunities right now are at the municipal level.
So at the state level, we're bidding on very large contracts, specifically related to aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) firefighting foam, which is being stored all over the country. We're seeing those opportunities also at the federal government level and in industry as well. We're very active and seeing a huge uptake in demand for the various services we can provide.
Can you update investors on the AirSCWO system being deployed at the Orange County Sanitation District? What’s the new timeline and what will this project demonstrate once it's operational?
Absolutely. This is a project where Orange County has purchased an AirSCWO system and all ancillary equipment — pretreatment systems and post-treatment. We're targeting the end of this year or very early next year for installation. Once we're on site, we’ll start to process biosolids from the Orange County facility.
With 374Water now bidding on tens of millions of dollars in WDS contracts, how do you see this business scaling over the next 12 to 18 months? And what are the key catalysts investors should be watching?
We see rapid growth ahead. We’re working on establishing our first full-scale waste destruction service site. We’ve signed an agreement with a great organization called Crystal Clean for that first location, which will allow us to process and bid on major federal government work with the military and FAA.
We’re also in late-stage discussions with a number of other RCRA-permitted treatment, storage, and disposal facility operators and will establish facilities there as well. We see enormous demand and large growth over the next 12 to 24 months.
It’s not just the US government. Governments worldwide are tightening PFAS and hazardous waste regulations. How do these policy changes support 374Water’s mission, and where do you see the biggest opportunities globally?
These are massive tailwinds. Across the world, governments are pushing these initiatives. In Australia, we have large opportunities, working with both the government and municipalities, as well as militaries.
We see enormous opportunities in Europe, which is probably more forward-looking than the US, and also in Asia. We're tracking many opportunities but remain focused on North America for now, with plans to expand internationally next year.
Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and style