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© 2025 TeraEarth Limited · Biological Infrastructure

Building the UK's first biological soil gigafactory

We Turn
Waste Into
Living Soil.

The UK's first biological soil gigafactory. 500,000 sq ft. 100 hectares. Infrastructure for the ground beneath everything.

01 — The Problem

Three systems.
All broken.

01
Waste Disposal

Councils pay £40–£80/t to dispose of green waste. Cost rising. Capacity shrinking. The problem compounds every year.

02
Soil Crisis

40% of the world's soil is degraded. UK topsoil has an estimated 60 harvests remaining. The land feeding us is running out.

03
Dead Compost

Most compost is biologically dead — optimised for waste volume, not soil health. It meets the standard. It doesn't build soil.

This Is Infrastructure,
Not Compost.
A new category. Built from the ground up.
02 — The Solution

A New Type
of Soil Factory

We take contaminated green waste, remove plastics via advanced sorting, and process it through a precision biological system — producing living soil that is biologically active, commercially premium, and at scale.

01
Input
Contaminated Green Waste

Council waste received. We're paid £40–£80/t to accept it.

02
Sorting
Mechanical + Robotic

Advanced systems extract plastic, glass, and non-organic material.

03
Biology
60–90 Day System

Thermophilic heat, fungal inoculation, microbial development, vermiculture.

04
Output
Living Soil Products

Premium, biologically active soil at £100–£300 equiv/t.

03 — Why It Matters

Four outcomes.
One system.

Regenerates Soil

Living, biologically active soil that builds structure. Not a substitute — an improvement.

Reduces Waste

Every tonne processed diverts green waste from landfill or low-value disposal.

Supports Food

Healthy soil is the foundation of food security. Building it back at scale is urgent.

Circular System

Waste in, soil out, food grown, communities fed. The loop closes completely.

"
This is not a
compost facility.
This is infrastructure.
TeraEarth · 2025

National
Biological
Infrastructure.

Designed for national scale. Integrated with agriculture, councils, and communities. Built to last.

Terasite — Scale

500,000 sq ft of state-of-the-art
composting infrastructure.

500,000
sq ft
State-of-the-art composting infrastructure under a single roof. Five Premier League pitches side by side — all under one roof.
100
hectares
Total site. 247 acres. Larger than the City of London financial district.
180
windrow rows
Each 120m long. Steaming from biological heat. From altitude the site looks like it is breathing.
In context:
500,000 sq ft of the most advanced composting infrastructure ever assembled. 200,000+ tonnes per year — the output of 40 conventional operations combined. A ceiling taller than a six-storey building. 180 steaming windrow rows visible from orbit.
£80
Per tonne intake

Revenue before processing begins.

60
Harvests remaining

Estimated UK topsoil life.

11M+
Tonnes / yr

UK annual green waste arisings.

Revenue streams

Paid to take it. Paid to sell it.

How It Works

A New Type
of Soil Factory.

Four sequential stages — mechanical, thermal, biological, and microbial — producing premium living soil in 60–90 days.

The Process

Four stages.
One system.

01
Input

Green waste arrives. We receive payment to accept it.

02
Sorting

Mechanical + robotic systems remove all contaminants.

03
Biology

Precision biological system over 60–90 days.

04
Output

Premium living soil at £100–£300 equiv/tonne.

Stage by Stage
Stage 01 — Input

The Feedstock Problem

Green waste contains significant contamination. We solve it before biology begins.


Gate Fee£40–£80/t
UK Volume11M+ t/yr
RevenueNegative input cost
Stage 02 — Sorting

Contamination Removed

Trommel Screening

Rotating drum separates organics by size and density.

Optical Sorting

NIR sensors identify and eject plastics at speed.

Robotic Arms KUKA

Precision extraction of remaining contaminants.

Stage 03 — Biology

The Biological Engine

Thermophilic Phase

65–75°C sustained heat. Pathogens eliminated.

Fungal Development

Inoculation builds soil structure absent from conventional compost.

Microbial Ecosystem

Diverse communities sustaining long-term biological activity.

Vermiculture

Worm systems add the complexity that distinguishes living soil.

60–90 days · Controlled environment
Stage 04 — Output

Living Soil. Not Compost.

Biologically active — fungal networks, microbial communities, biological complexity. A categorically different product.

£300
Equiv/tonne
Revenue

Roots Living Compost
D2C
Growing Media Blend
B2B
Soil Remediation Mix
Contract
The Model

Paid to take it.
Paid again
to sell it.

Negative input cost. Premium output revenue. The economics are structural, not incidental.

Stream 01 — Intake Fees
£40–£80
Per tonne accepted

Councils pay us to accept green waste. Revenue before a single tonne is processed. As gate fees rise and disposal capacity shrinks, our position improves.

Stream 02 — Product Sales
£100–£300
Equiv. per tonne output

Premium living soil sold via Roots and wholesale channels. High margin on every tonne out. Both streams compound as throughput grows.

Structural Advantage
2×
Revenue on intake. Revenue on output.
Site Economics

Unit economics
at both scales.

From pilot to Terasite, each phase delivers strong returns while building toward significantly improved margins.

Pilot Site
Capex
£3–5M
Capacity
25,000 t/yr
EBITDA
£600k–1.5M
Payback
2.5–4 years
Terasite
Capex
~£50M
Capacity
200–300k t/yr
EBITDA
Materially improved
Payback
3–5 years
Building
500,000 sq ft
Total site
100 hectares
Automation
Full robotic
The Scale Effect

Fixed costs spread across 10× the volume. Automation reduces labour per tonne. National contracts provide structural revenue certainty.

Terasite — Scale

500,000 sq ft of state-of-the-art
composting infrastructure.

500,000 sq ft
Processing hall footprint

Under a single roof. The main processing building alone is larger than five Premier League football pitches laid side by side.

100 hectares
Total site area

247 acres. Larger than the entire City of London financial district. The windrow fields surrounding the building cover 60 hectares of active biological processing.

Scale in context

The 20-metre-high processing hall is taller than a six-storey building. The far end dissolves into biological haze — you cannot see wall to wall from inside.

180 compost windrow rows surround the building on three sides — each row 120 metres long, steaming from biological heat. From altitude the site looks like it is breathing.

At 200,000+ tonnes per year, the Terasite processes more green waste annually than the entire output of 40 conventional composting operations combined.

Engineering

95% Automated.
Zero Compromise.

A robotic manufacturing system that processes biology. Designed from first principles for full automation.

95%
Automation Level

Labour cost per tonne is structurally lower than any competing system. Every additional site replicates the same automated model — no linear headcount scaling.

The 5% human element is deliberate: biological quality control, system oversight, and the judgment no robot yet replaces.

Reference Systems

Built on the same
logic as the best
in the world.

TeraEarth's material handling draws directly from the two most advanced autonomous logistics systems ever deployed at scale.

Reference 01

Amazon Robotics
(Kiva Systems)

750,000+ AMRs globally. Each navigates a shared floor autonomously — zero fixed conveyor infrastructure for horizontal movement. The robots are the infrastructure. TeraEarth applies the same principle: AMRs carry compost instead of shelf units.


Core principleGoods-to-station AMR
NavigationQR grid + LiDAR
TeraEarth parallelAMRs carry compost
Reference 02

Ocado Grid System
(Used by THG Ingenuity)

Swarm robots on a 3D grid, coordinated by AI processing 4 million decisions per second. THG deployed this at their Omega facility — the world's largest single-floor automated warehouse. Our rail-guided turning system applies the same swarm-coordination logic.


Core principle3D grid swarm
Control systemCentral AI
TeraEarth parallelGrid turning system
Material Flow — Six Stages

How every tonne
moves through
the system.

01

Automated Intake & Weighbridge

HGVs directed by ANPR cameras and automated gates. NIR sensors scan material composition before tipping. Non-compliant loads rejected automatically. No human required from arrival to tipping.

ANPR camerasNIR scanningAuto-rejection
02

Robotic Sorting — Contamination Removal

Trommel screen separates by particle size. NIR cameras identify plastic, glass, and metals at 3m/sec. KUKA robotic arms make final precision extractions. Under 4 minutes per tonne. Human involvement: zero.

Trommel screeningOptical NIRKUKA arms<4 min/tonne
03

AMR Fleet — Site-Wide Material Handling

Heavy-duty AMRs — each carrying 2–5 tonnes — move feedstock between zones. The fleet repositions windrows, moves material between stages, and delivers to dispatch. 150–300 robots per site. Central AI orchestration in real time.

150–300 AMRs2–5t payloadLiDAR navAI orchestration
04

Automated Windrow Turning

Robotic turning machines traverse each row on fixed rail guides. A sensor network embedded in every windrow reports temperature, moisture, CO₂, and O₂ every 60 seconds. Turning is condition-triggered — not scheduled. Zero scheduled labour.

Rail-guided turnersEmbedded sensorsCondition-triggeredZero scheduled labour
05

Biological Monitoring Network

Every windrow is a monitored environment. Wireless sensors report every 60 seconds. A central biological AI model makes continuous decisions — when to turn, irrigate, inoculate, harvest. A failing batch is identified in hours, not days.

60s intervalsTemp / pH / CO₂AI modelProprietary dataset
06

Grading, Bagging & Dispatch

Finished product delivered by AMR to grading and packaging. Automated bagging lines fill, weigh, seal, and palletise at 60 bags per minute. Outbound logistics integrated with Roots platform data — orders trigger automatic dispatch without a human in the loop.

Auto grading60 bags/minAMR palletisingRoots API
Labour Economics

Labour is the
wrong cost
to scale with.

A conventional operation at 25,000 t/yr employs 40–60 staff. At 200,000 t/yr it needs 300+. Labour scales linearly.

Our system does not. At Terasite scale the per-tonne labour cost approaches zero.

12
FTEs — Pilot Site

vs 40–60 in a conventional operation of the same throughput.

35
FTEs — Terasite

vs 300+ conventional. 88% lower labour cost per tonne.

The Data Moat

Every batch builds
a dataset no one
else can buy.

From day one, TeraEarth begins accumulating a proprietary dataset that compounds in value with every tonne processed.

Biological Performance Data

What conditions produce what output

Thousands of batches, millions of sensor readings, correlated with output quality. The model learns what conditions produce the best living soil from each feedstock type. This cannot be purchased.

Output Quality Fingerprinting

Living soil as a certified, consistent product

Every batch carries a quality fingerprint — biological activity score, particle size, moisture, microbial diversity index. Over time this becomes the basis for a premium certified tier.

The Compound Effect

Each additional site adds to the dataset. By year five, the model governing biological processing will be the most sophisticated biological composting AI in existence — trained on more data than any competitor could accumulate in a decade of manual operation.

Roadmap

Roadmap to
First Facility.

2026 to first operational facility. Four phases, each validated before the next begins.

Current Status
Phase 01 — Active

Capital deployed against milestones. Each phase proves the next.

2026–2027
Phase 01
Research & Design

System design and prototyping. Supplier identification. Site search and early council engagement. Capital raise for pilot facility.

  • System design complete
  • Supplier partnerships confirmed
  • Site identified — HoTs agreed
  • Early waste contracts in place
  • £3–5M pilot raise complete
2027–2028
Phase 02
Pilot Development

Secure land with planning. Build the £3–5M pilot at 25,000 t/yr. Commission mechanical sorting and biological processing.

  • Land secured with planning
  • Pilot facility construction complete
  • Mechanical sorting operational
  • Biological system commissioned
  • First waste intake received
2028
Phase 03
Validation & Contracts

Full testing of contamination removal, biological quality, and output consistency. Long-term waste contracts secured. Economics validated.

  • Contamination removal validated
  • Biological quality confirmed
  • Long-term contracts secured
  • Product sales channels live
2029
Phase 04
First Facility Operational

Pilot at full capacity. Living soil at scale. Foundation proven for national rollout.

  • 25,000 t/yr operating
  • Living soil products in market
  • Terasite site search begins
  • Series A / infrastructure finance
2030+
Phase 05
National Network

Terasite development. 5–10 regional facilities. National coverage. Government partnership at scale.

  • Flagship Terasite development
  • 5–10 regional facilities
  • National soil supply chain
  • Government partnership
Policy

Rethinking
Compost
Standards.

The current standard was designed for a different era. We are working with government to define what comes next.

"PAS 100 is designed for waste processing — not for producing biologically active, regenerative soil."
TeraEarth Position Paper · 2026
The Current Standard

PAS 100:
What It Misses

PAS 100 is the UK's specification for composted materials. Developed to regulate the composting industry from a waste processing perspective.

It is not a standard for biological soil quality. It measures what compost doesn't contain — not what living soil must contain.

A product can pass PAS 100 and be biologically inert. Our output would exceed any meaningful measure of soil biological activity.

Our Position
Working with Government

Engaging directly with DEFRA, Natural England, and relevant bodies. Category definition, not lobbying.

A Biological Quality Standard

A standard measuring microbial diversity, fungal activity, and biological complexity. Output-focused, not waste-focused.

Category-Defining Position

Those who write the rules tend to win the market they create. We intend to be that organisation.

Ecosystem

Closing
the Loop.

TeraEarth sits at the centre of a closed-loop system — integrated with Roots Allotments and a growing community of urban growers.

The Closed Loop

Waste → Soil →
Food →
Community →
Back to Soil

Every tonne of green waste enters TeraEarth. It emerges as premium living soil, distributed to Roots Allotments communities. Those communities grow food. Food waste returns to the system.

The loop is structural, not aspirational.

Green Waste In
Council waste received. Gate fees paid to TeraEarth.
Living Soil Out
Premium biological soil produced and packaged.
Roots Distribution
Soil delivered direct to Roots communities.
Food Grown
Communities grow food on living, productive soil.
Returns to System
Green waste from Roots sites re-enters TeraEarth.
Roots Allotments

A captive market
already exists.

25k
Growing spaces

People growing food in Roots communities across the UK.

10×
More efficient

Than conventional allotment infrastructure.

National
Scale

Infrastructure built to operate across the whole country.

D2C
Distribution

Direct to member — zero intermediary cost.

The Team

The people
building this.

Infrastructure at this scale requires a specific combination of biological science, engineering, regulatory experience, and commercial relationship. This is that team.

Leadership

The core team.

CS
Founder & Chief Executive

Christian Samuel

Founder, Roots Allotments · TeraEarth

Founded Roots Allotments in 2021, building the UK's largest no-dig allotment community and opening growing spaces for 25,000 people. Operating at national scale, with infrastructure 10x more efficient than conventional allotment models. TeraEarth was built on the insight that the soil supply chain underpinning Roots — and UK agriculture more broadly — needs to be rebuilt from first principles at industrial scale.

TD
Technical Director

— Appointing

Large-scale processing & automation infrastructure

The engineer who has physically built automated processing infrastructure at scale. The hire that de-risks the technical narrative for sophisticated investors.

CD
Commercial Director

— Appointing

Council relationships & waste contract origination

Owns the council pipeline and long-term waste intake contracts. Has sold infrastructure services to local government before.

HB
Head of Biology

— Appointing

Soil science, agronomy & biological process design

Owns the compost specification and the biological process that defines output quality. The scientific credibility anchor of the business.

FD
Finance Director

— Appointing

Financial modelling, raise process & project finance

Owns the financial model, manages the raise process, and structures project finance for the pilot facility.

PL
Planning & Regulatory Lead

— Appointing

Environmental permitting, EPR & PAS 100 certification

Navigates the full planning and permitting pathway for each facility. One wrong move costs 18 months. This role prevents that.

Strategic Advisers

Senior counsel.
Fractional cost.

Four adviser seats that give TeraEarth access to the relationships and credibility that no full-time hire at this stage could provide.

01
Public Sector & Government

— To Be Confirmed

Former council chief executive or waste authority director. Opens government doors and gives local authorities confidence that TeraEarth understands how they work.

02
Agriculture & Soil Science

— To Be Confirmed

A recognised name in UK soil science or agronomy. Links TeraEarth to the food security narrative and connects the business to the agricultural buyer community.

03
Automation & Technology

— To Be Confirmed

A senior figure from Ocado, Amazon logistics, or comparable automation. Vouches for the automation thesis and validates the technical architecture with investors who will probe it.

04
Infrastructure Investment

— To Be Confirmed

A known figure in green infrastructure or waste-to-value investment. Opens LP doors and bridges TeraEarth into the infrastructure fund ecosystem.

Join the Team

We are building
the team now.

If you have built processing infrastructure, held senior roles in waste management or local government, or have deep expertise in soil science or large-scale automation — we want to talk.

Priority Hires
Technical DirectorActive search
Commercial DirectorActive search
Head of BiologyActive search
Get In Touch

We are building
this. Let's talk.

If you are an investor, council, or strategic partner, we want to hear from you.

01
Investor Enquiries

Raising capital for our pilot facility. We'd like to share our deck and economics with serious investors.

investors@teraearth.com →
02
Council Partnerships

Exploring long-term waste contracts and intake network partnerships with local authorities.

councils@teraearth.com →
03
Strategic Partners

Technology partners, equipment suppliers, landowners — we are open to the right conversations.

partners@teraearth.com →
Send an Enquiry