Tons per day kept out of the landfill at Phase Initial
~100
Direct manufacturing jobs at Phase Initial
$17.52M
Circular Royalty™ to the County in Year 2
30
Years the royalty is paid, growing every year
~$874M
Gross royalty over 30 years at Phase Initial
Near-zero
Combustion emissions — no burning, no ash
What Changes for You
Eight ways St. Lucie County benefits
Here is what Advanced Circular Manufacturing does for residents, every week, for 30 years.
♻️
~100 direct manufacturing jobs
Phase Initial creates approximately 100 direct St. Lucie County-based jobs in advanced manufacturing and facility operations. Phase Expanded (1,200 TPD) creates approximately 300 direct jobs.
~100 direct manufacturing jobs
🏭
400 TPD stays out of the landfill
146,000 tons of waste per year is converted into manufactured products — synthetic graphite and recovered minerals — instead of being buried at the St. Lucie County Sanitary Landfill.
400 TPD stays out of the landfill
💰
The County receives a royalty — not just a bill
From Month 13 after the programme starts, the County receives a Circular Royalty™ from Carbotura. In Year 2, that royalty is $17.52 million — more than the fee paid in Year 1.
The County receives a royalty — not ju
🏘️
Landfill Cell V pressure eased
With 400 TPD diverted, the Cell V expansion timeline is extended. The county has been filling landfill capacity faster than planned due to rapid population growth — this programme helps relieve that pressure.
Landfill Cell V pressure eased
⚡
No combustion — a cleaner process
The ACM process uses microwave energy in an oxygen-free environment — not incineration. There is no burning, no ash, and no air emissions of the type that led St. Lucie County to reject waste-to-energy in 2023.
No combustion — a cleaner process
💧
Household waste fees have a new counterbalance
St. Lucie County residents pay solid waste fees that rose to $468 per year in October 2025 as landfill costs increased. The Circular Royalty™ creates a county revenue stream that can offset future disposal-driven fee increases.
Household waste fees have a new counte
💼
30 years of stable, predictable returns
The 30-year Circular Supply Agreement locks in a known fee schedule and growing royalty return. Both escalate predictably — no surprise rate changes for the County over the programme term.
30 years of stable, predictable return
🌊
The landfill itself becomes a royalty asset
The St. Lucie County Sanitary Landfill has been identified as a candidate for the Exogenesis™ Royalty — a second payment stream for legacy landfill material that currently sits as an environmental liability with no income potential.
The landfill itself becomes a royalty
Today vs. With the Factory
What Changes — Side by Side
🔴 Today
✗$79/ton disposal cost — and rising. Rates increased significantly in February 2025 after years unchanged.
✗No royalty return. The county pays to dispose of waste — and receives nothing back.
✗Cell V expansion required at ~$30 million cost just to extend current capacity.
✗Household solid waste fees rising — $468/year as of October 2025, up $82.56 from prior year.
✗No WTE alternative. Combustion was considered and rejected over air quality concerns in 2023.
✗Landfill is an open-ended environmental and financial liability. No income potential.
✗Population growing fast — Port St. Lucie added ~27,000 residents in just two years. Waste generation accelerating.
✗No local advanced manufacturing jobs in materials recovery. Waste leaves the county as a cost, not a resource.
🟢 With the Factory
✓$100/ton Beneficiation Fee replaces disposal cost in Year 1 — with a royalty return beginning Month 13.
✓$17.52 million Circular Royalty™ in Year 2 — growing to $43 million by Year 30 at Phase Initial scale.
✓400 TPD diverted — Cell V capacity extended. The county gains infrastructure runway without the full $30M cost burden.
✓County receives royalty income that can offset future disposal-driven fee increases for residents.
✓Manufacturing classification — anoxic, oxygen-free process. No combustion, no ash, no air quality concerns.
✓Landfill identified as Exogenesis™ Royalty candidate — legacy material becomes a potential second income stream.
✓Growing waste generation matched by growing ACM programme capacity — Phase Medium and Expanded accommodate the county's growth.
✓~100 direct local manufacturing jobs at Phase Initial. ~300 jobs at Phase Expanded. St. Lucie County-based.
How the Money Works
The Circular Royalty™ — Explained Simply
This is not a subsidy. It is not a discount. Here is how St. Lucie County earns money back from the materials it supplies.
Your materials are collected
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The factory converts them into manufactured products
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Products are sold in global markets
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Royalty paid back to St. Lucie County
What the Circular Royalty™ is — in plain terms
The County pays a Beneficiation Fee of $100 per ton to have its residual processed. Then, starting 13 months after the first fee payment, Carbotura pays the County a Circular Royalty™ — $17.52 million in Year 2, 120% of that year’s fee, and it grows every year for 30 years because the fee escalates 2.5% and the royalty percentage adds a point each year. The fee and the royalty are two separate payments by two different parties, and this page does not add them together. This is not a discount. It is not a rebate. It is a contractual royalty derived from the value of what the material becomes.
Your Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Advanced Circular Manufacturing (ACM) uses a process called Microwave Catalytic Reforming (MCR) to convert waste into manufactured products — synthetic graphite, graphene compounds, and recovered minerals. The process works in an oxygen-free environment with no burning, which means there is no combustion, no ash, and no air emissions of the kind associated with waste-to-energy incineration. St. Lucie County considered a waste-to-energy plant and rejected it in 2023 over air quality concerns. The ACM process uses a completely different approach — it's a manufacturing facility, not a disposal facility, and it's classified under manufacturing codes, not solid waste codes.
The Circular Royalty™ is a payment Carbotura makes to St. Lucie County, starting 13 months after the programme begins. In Year 2, the county receives $17.52 million — more than it paid in Year 1 as the Beneficiation Fee ($14.60 million). The royalty grows each year and reaches approximately $43 million annually by Year 30. The Circular Royalty™ goes to St. Lucie County — it's a public revenue stream, not a direct household payment. How the county applies it is a decision for the Board of County Commissioners. It can be used to offset future waste fee increases, fund infrastructure, or support other county priorities. The more waste the programme processes, the larger the royalty.
Phase Initial (400 TPD) creates approximately 100 direct St. Lucie County-based jobs in advanced manufacturing, facility operations, maintenance, and materials handling. Phase Expanded at 1,200 TPD creates approximately 300 direct jobs — all based in the county at the ACM facility site. These are manufacturing jobs — not waste-handling jobs. The facility is classified as a manufacturing plant, and the roles reflect that: operators, technicians, quality control, logistics, and facility management. The Treasure Coast region's growing population and workforce will support staffing from within the county.
The ACM programme does not replace the landfill immediately — it runs alongside it. At Phase Initial, 400 tons per day that would otherwise go to the landfill are redirected to the ACM facility. This extends the landfill's remaining capacity, easing the pressure that has been accelerating since 2020 as St. Lucie County's population has grown rapidly. The county is currently expanding Cell V at approximately $30 million cost. With 400 TPD diverted, that expansion's effective lifespan is extended. As the programme scales to Phase Expanded, a larger share of the total waste stream is diverted. The county has publicly stated it needs to find alternative infrastructure within the next 5–10 years — this programme is a direct response to that stated need.
Both parties commit to the Regulatory Predicate Transition (RPT) — the pathway from waste-domain statutes onto manufacturing-predicate classification (NAICS 31–33). Confirmation is actively pursued; nothing in the agreement is contingent on it. It matters because the manufacturing classification determines how the facility is regulated, permitted, and taxed. The classification determines how the facility is regulated, permitted and taxed, and both parties bring what is needed to reach it — Carbotura the process evidence, the County its standing with the regulator. It protects both parties: it ensures the facility is regulated as the manufacturing plant it is, and it gives the county clarity about what regulatory pathway the programme requires. The RPT must be confirmed with FDEP and St. Lucie County planning before commercial terms are executed. Was this page useful? ⇧ Useful ⇩ Not useful
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This document provides a plain-language overview of the Carbotura Advanced Circular Manufacturing programme for St. Lucie County, Florida. Financial figures are Carbotura planning-basis estimates. Employment figures are estimated from standard manufacturing parameters and subject to site-specific workforce planning. The Circular Royalty™ is payable to St. Lucie County under the terms of the Circular Supply Agreement — not directly to residents. The programme is subject to Regulatory Predicate Transition (RPT) confirmation, Waste Characterization Study, site-specific assessment, and St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners approval prior to execution. This document is current as of May 2026.