RDX Technologies Corp. celebrated a north Scottsdale factory Friday, announcing the facility was ready to make water-treatment equipment that can be used in a variety of industrial facilities.
The company, formerly based in Calgary, Alberta, and known as Ridgeline Energy Services Inc., has been working out of the Scottsdale location for about a year, but until now has not unveiled the technology under development, CEO Dennis Danzik said.
“This is the first water-treatment technology to extract effluent and make liquid fuel,” he said at a news conference attended by several politicians and dozens of potential clients and employees.
RDX gave tours of the factory space off Raintree Drive, where about 85 employees work fabricating systems to clean wastewater and, if the water comes from restaurants or other facilities with grease and fats, turn the waste into fuel. Danzik said employees earn an average of $22 an hour at the facility.
Though other companies work on turning restaurant grease into biodiesel for motor vehicles, RDX makes a lesser-quality diesel replacement that can be used in stationary equipment such as generators.
The company’s water-treatment systems can be scaled to match the clients, which include companies working in the oil and gas industries as well as restaurant waste-collection services and industrial slaughterhouses, officials said.
“Technologies like this are the revolution happening around us right now,” Arizona Rep. David Schweikert said.
He and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah both spoke of the importance of keeping government regulations from stifling developments such as RDX.
“When government stays out of the way and allows things to function, good things happen,” Lee said.
Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane said the company “is a great new addition to Scottsdale” and that the move from Canada “was a wise choice.”
Danzik thanked the politicians for their support.
“This won’t happen if government continues to put weight on industry,” he said.
RDX also has facilities in Santa Fe Springs, Calif.; Missouri; and Wyoming. Many of its clients are in remote areas of North America, and the company can monitor its systems in the field from Scottsdale.