Kingston, Ontario is establishing itself as a climate tech pioneer with the arrival of UNDO, a multinational corporation that is forging a path with its carbon removal solutions.
UNDO, an England-based firm, uses cutting-edge technology to remove carbon dioxide emissions from the environment through rock weathering.
UNDO is partnering with Kingston-based company Canadian Wollastonite (CW), which will provide the relatively rare mineral. A seam of wollastonite runs through the region, and after it is mined by Canadian Wollastonite, the mineral will then be spread upon farmland in Eastern Ontario through partnerships with local farmers.
The company is aiming to remove one million tonnes of carbon from the environment by 2025. Spreading 50,000 tonnes of Wollastonite in Eastern Ontario “has the potential to capture a greater amount of CO2 than all projects that are operating in North America combined,” says CW’s president Bob Vasily.
The investment will also see UNDO forge a research relationship with local universities like Queen’s University.
A ‘win-win’ partnership
“This is a win-win on so many levels,” says Donna Gillespie, CEO of Kingston Economic Development. “We have new foreign direct investment looking at the Kingston area in choosing to set up their first operational facility. We’ve got a local company forging a great new partnership on a very scalable initiative for erosion rock weathering, and both Canadian Wollastonite and UNDO are looking at spreading in field trials the wollastonite mineral onto Eastern Ontario farmland to do record analysis validation of carbon renewal,” she says. In addition, there is another win for the farmers, as the wollastonite improves the soil pH and then improves the yield of the farmland. It also lowers costs by reducing the purchase of silica-based fertilizers.
The ultimate win will occur on the largest scale possible, which is, through UNDO’s leading technology, CW’s mined resources and Kingston’s infrastructure and surrounding farmlands, permanently removing carbon from the atmosphere and being part of the climate emergency solution.
“This is such an exciting, scalable venture, and it’s helping to put us on the map for climate tech and building on the City of Kingston’s values of being the most sustainable city in Canada.”
Rock weathering technology takes the wollastonite mineral, crushes it finely and spreads it onto soil. This process hardens the earth, so that when rain falls, the soil is better able to capture carbon permanently, explains Vasily.
Benefits for farmers
“What might take hundreds of years to naturally break down, we’re seeing in one and two and three years now. And it’s very attractive because the process of breaking these minerals down releases a lot of other benefits that are beneficial for growing crops for farmers,” he says.
Chris Zair, head of partnerships at UNDO, says his company appreciates the vote of confidence the Kingston region has put in the technology, as well as the potential of the landscape. The company has 67 FTEs overall, which include nine full-time employees based in the Kingston area, including an operations manager, field techs lab coordinator and lab techs.
The support provided by Kingston Economic Development was also a selling point. “The kind of the support that we had since day one has been incredible,” Zair says, adding that the support from the local business community has been amazing, as well as the relationships with educational institutions. “It was really clear that this is a really ripe area for investment for UNDO and setting up our business.”
The potential to replicate the model elsewhere is also on the radars of everyone involved, which will bring this exciting, cutting-edge technology to a global audience and tackle the current climate emergency. In a signal of confidence in UNDO’s technology, the company recently announced a second deal with Microsoft to remove 15,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and provide funding for crucial scientific research in the erosion rock-weathering field. UNDO has previously established a relationship with Microsoft, which began in 2023 with a contract to remove 5,000 tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere.
