Wednesday 15 April, 11am-12pm
FREE for members, $59 for non-members
Turning waste materials into biochar
Matt Welton, founder of Carbon Options, shares practical insights into turning waste materials into biochar. Drawing on real-world case studies, he will explore how forestry residues, brewery by-products, and textiles can be converted into valuable products for soil health and environmental applications. The session highlights lessons learned from experimentation, partnerships, and building circular solutions from waste streams.
About your speakers:
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Matt Welton is the founder of Carbon Options, a small-scale biochar producer in Aotearoa New Zealand focused on turning waste streams into regenerative soil products. Before moving to New Zealand, he worked in the scrap trade in London’s East End, where he learned early that waste has value — and occasionally found himself dealing with some colourful characters connected to the old Kray and Richardson circles. At one point he even received a note saying “take heed my son” when copies of The Profession of Violence and Rough Justice arrived in the post — a reminder that the scrap trade has always had interesting reading material. Today he applies that same eye for hidden value to transforming forestry residues, brewery by-products, and textiles into biochar for agriculture and environmental use.