Minot's household and commercial material becomes manufacturing feedstock for a local Advanced Circular Manufacturing facility. Ownership transfers to Carbotura on delivery. Carbotura carries 100% of the capital; the City and County carry none. In return for a per-ton Beneficiation Fee, Minot receives a Circular Royalty™ on every ton for the 30-year CSA term.
Not a cheaper landfill: a royalty that exceeds the fee from Year 2, on zero public capital, with the landfill's airspace kept for longer.
The facility creates skilled manufacturing jobs in Minot, and each direct job supports additional indirect employment in the region. Job figures are estimated from standard per-TPD scaling, not from a site study.
Every ton manufactured into products is a ton that does not occupy cell space at the City of Minot Landfill.
All environmental performance figures below reflect designed-for targets under the Carbotura manufacturing process. Site-specific performance will be verified during the Term Sheet phase and confirmed through operational monitoring.
One commercial structure, the Circular Supply Agreement (CSA): the Feedstock Provider pays a Beneficiation Fee per ton delivered, and Carbotura pays a Circular Royalty™ per ton. The two are separate gross payments.
Beneficiation Fee (TMC Fee): $100/ton in Year 1, escalating 2.5%/yr — the bottom of the standard $100–$150/ton range. $100/ton is above the City of Minot Landfill's published MSW gate rate of $51/ton (effective 2025-01-01, City rate schedule). Carbotura claims no disposal saving. The case is the Circular Royalty™, no City or County capital, longer landfill life, and a manufacturing destination for the material.
| Year | Fee / ton | Royalty received / ton | 100 TPD fee | 100 TPD royalty | 200 TPD fee | 200 TPD royalty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $100.00 | $0 (pre-royalty) | $3.65M | $0 | $7.29M | $0 |
| 2 | $102.50 | $120.00 | $3.74M | $4.38M | $7.48M | $8.76M |
| 10 | $124.89 | $155.96 | $4.56M | $5.69M | $9.12M | $11.38M |
| 30 | $204.64 | $295.48 | $7.47M | $10.79M | $14.94M | $21.57M |
| 30-yr gross | ~$160.2M | ~$207.3M | ~$320.5M | ~$414.7M |
Royalty received, receipts basis: paid 13 months in arrears; Year n = M(n−1) × BF(n−1). Illustrative. Fee and royalty are independent gross amounts and are never netted.
Residential collection stays with City Sanitation on its twice-weekly routes. What changes is where the trucks deliver: to the Carbotura facility instead of the landfill cells.
Partnerships with Bismarck or Grand Forks could be possible later additions under separate agreements. They are not sized or included in any figure on this page.
No parcel has been identified. Candidate areas are being reviewed on industrially zoned land (the City's M1, M2 and M3 districts); the facility marker below is illustrative only.
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Answers to the questions Ward County residents and officials ask most often.
The Carbotura facility converts household and commercial manufacturing feedstock into manufactured products using MCR (Microwave Catalytic Reforming), which performs electromagnetic elemental dissociation. It is not burning and not incineration. The process runs in a sealed, oxygen-free environment with no open flame and no combustion, and its outputs are Circular Materials such as synthetic graphite.
No. Incineration burns material in the presence of oxygen. The Carbotura process operates in an anoxic (oxygen-free) environment, which is mechanistically incompatible with combustion. Carbotura is not waste-to-energy and sells no power. Carbotura pursues manufacturing classification (NAICS 31–33); nothing in the agreement is contingent on it.
Phase Initial is 100 tons per day (36,500 t/yr), about 45% of the roughly 82,000 t/yr of municipal material the City of Minot Landfill reports receiving. Phase Medium, 200 tons per day (73,000 t/yr, about 89%), is a later step, when the County chooses. Capacity grows by adding identical ACM modules, not by building a larger plant.
Carbotura's policy is local hire first. The company will work with regional colleges and training providers to develop training pathways for local residents. Operations, maintenance and technical roles are all accessible through apprenticeship programs.
The jobs range across skill levels. Process operators and materials handlers are entry-level and trainable. Quality control technicians, instrumentation and controls specialists, and safety personnel require technical training. Site managers and engineers typically require college credentials. Estimated headcount is ~25 direct at 100 TPD and ~50 at 200 TPD, with roughly three indirect jobs per direct job.
The process is enclosed and oxygen-free, with no open flame, no combustion emissions and no ash, and is designed for near-zero emissions. Solid waste rules in North Dakota sit under NDAC 33.1-20 and NDCC 23.1-08, administered by the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality (NDDEQ). The permits that apply to this facility, including air quality and groundwater review, are confirmed with NDDEQ in pre-application meetings before any facility operates.
No. It is converted. The Carbotura process resolves feedstock into its elements and synthesizes them into manufactured products, primarily synthetic graphite and other carbon-based Circular Materials. About 100% of input becomes manufactured output: roughly 90% is sold and roughly 10% is used inside the plant to power it. The design target is near-zero residual.
The Carbotura process is designed to destroy PFAS compounds in incoming feedstock: downstream processing at 1,800–3,000°C fully breaks them down. In a landfill, PFAS stays in place and can reach leachate. North Dakota has no state PFAS rule today; NDDEQ monitors PFAS, including landfill leachate since 2018.
No. Carbotura finances, owns and operates the entire facility: $75M at Phase Initial and $130M at Phase Medium. The Feedstock Provider's financial commitment is the Beneficiation Fee on material delivered: $100/ton in Year 1, escalating 2.5%/yr. That is above the landfill's published $51/ton MSW gate rate, so this is not a saving on disposal. The public side takes on no deployment debt, no bonding obligation and no operating risk.
Carbotura pays a Circular Royalty™ on every ton: 120% of the current-year Beneficiation Fee in Year 1, rising one percentage point every year. Each royalty payment is made 13 months after Carbotura's receipt of the corresponding Beneficiation Fee payment. On a receipts basis that is $120.00/ton in Year 2 against a $102.50 fee, and $295.48/ton in Year 30 against a $204.64 fee. At 100 TPD the 30-year gross royalty is about $207.3M and the 30-year gross fee about $160.2M.
The City of Minot owns and operates the landfill and keeps doing so. At Phase Initial the landfill still receives the remaining municipal tonnage and its inert stream (about 68,800 t/yr reported). Existing contracts are reviewed during LOI/MOU execution, and the transition is planned around them. Carbotura does not require anyone to break an existing contract.
The decision is made by the governing body that signs the CSA, through its standard public approval process: public notice, review and a vote. Before capital is deployed, a Deployment Study verifies costs, revenues and site impacts. Residents can review the full documentation on this portal and at any public meetings.
There is no deadline. Commercial operation follows 12–24 months from permit issuance, and the royalty begins 13 months after Carbotura's receipt of each Beneficiation Fee payment. Waiting moves both later by the same amount; it does not change the terms.
The key regulatory question is how the facility is classified: as manufacturing, or as waste treatment. Carbotura pursues manufacturing classification (NAICS 31–33), not solid-waste management (NAICS 562). Classification determines which permits are required, which agency has oversight and what standards apply.
Under the Regulatory Predicate Transition (RPT), both parties commit to the dewaste pathway and the endpoint is categorical: manufacturing. Interim bridging authorities may apply while that confirmation is pursued. Nothing in the agreement is contingent on it.
In plain terms: Carbotura's facility is designed as a manufacturer, not a landfill, not an incinerator and not a waste-to-energy plant, and both sides work toward that classification together.
The North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality (NDDEQ) administers solid waste rules under NDAC 33.1-20 and NDCC 23.1-08, along with air and water permitting. North Dakota has no advanced-recycling or manufacturing-classification statute, so the permitting pathway for this facility is confirmed with NDDEQ in pre-application engagement, before any agreement is signed.
This page describes community and resident benefits of the proposed Carbotura facility. Employment figures are estimates from standard per-TPD scaling; financial figures are illustrative and computed on the CSA formula; environmental performance is design intent. Actual performance will be confirmed through the Deployment Study and operational monitoring. This proposal does not bind either party before CSA execution. Contact: info[at]carbotura.com
What an Advanced Circular Manufacturing facility means for residents — what changes at the kerb, what Minot receives, the jobs created, and the environmental effect.
Source-of-truth references for the key figures cited throughout this document. Full Assumption Registry available on request from the Minot engagement team.
| Field | Value | Confidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beneficiation Fee Year 1 | $100/ton — the bottom of the standard $100–$150/ton range | APPROVED | Architect approval, 2026-11-12 |
| Beneficiation Fee escalator | 2.5%/yr compounded | MODELED | CSA formula |
| Circular Royalty™ received Year 2 / Year 30 | $120.00 / $295.48 per ton (receipts basis) | MODELED | CSA formula: M(n−1) × BF(n−1) |
| City of Minot Landfill MSW gate rate | $51/ton (inert $37/ton), effective 2025-01-01 | VERIFIED | minotnd.gov Landfill Rates |
| Landfill intake | ~82,000 t/yr MSW + ~68,800 t/yr inert, six counties | REPORTED | Vendor case study, post-2011 (retrieved 2026-11-10) |
| Ward County population | 68,233 (2025 estimate) | VERIFIED | Minot Daily News, 2026-03-26 |
| Phase Initial / Phase Medium | 100 TPD (36,500 t/yr) / 200 TPD (73,000 t/yr) | MODELED | 365 operating days |
| CSA term | 30-year CSA term | MODELED | Standard CSA |
| Direct FTE (Phase Initial / Medium) | ~25 / ~50 | ESTIMATED | Standard per-TPD scaling |
| Indirect employment (Phase Initial / Medium) | ~75 / ~150 | ESTIMATED | Roughly 3× direct |
| Carbotura capital | $75M (100 TPD) / $130M (200 TPD) | MODELED | $75M first module + $55M additional module |
Confidence flags: VERIFIED (published source) APPROVED (Architect decision) MODELED (calculated from documented inputs) REPORTED (published but undated) ESTIMATED (best-available, confirmed at Term Sheet phase). Other sources: City of Minot Landfill; NDDEQ active MSW landfills; City Sanitation carts.