$18M North Las Vegas project aims to turn trash into fuel

Forge Industries plans to launch its first U.S. biofuel plant in North Las Vegas this year, converting hard‑to‑recycle waste into an engineered fuel intended to replace coal in cement, steel and power‑generation sectors. The $18 million facility, spanning 105,000 square feet, is slated to begin operations by the end of 2027 and is projected to produce roughly 500,000 metric tons of fuel annually when fully operational. “We’re targeting a replacement for coal,” said Forge founder and CEO Chelsea Boyle. “We produce a fuel that outperforms coal and can replace it one‑for‑one.” According to the company, the fuel costs more than 50 percent less than coal while generating up to 80 percent fewer emissions. Forge processes plastics, rubber, textiles, food waste, waste oils, paper and cardboard that would otherwise end up in landfills, transforming them into a standardized substance designed to mimic coal’s properties. Each production line can handle about 300,000 tons of waste per year. “We solve two problems at once—cutting landfill waste and reducing industry’s reliance on coal—by creating an engineered alternative fuel,” Boyle explained. “It’s cleaner, more abundant, designed to dethrone coal and made from waste.” Boyle, 34, a New York native who earned degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of California, Berkeley, said the idea originated during her undergraduate thesis work in Senegal. “I was at the West African Research Center in Dakar, and it was the first time in my life I confronted the waste situation head‑on,” she said, noting she speaks four languages. “That part of Africa is saturated with the rest of the world’s waste. It was all imported waste from the Western or developed world, and I just felt, with all the wealth in the world, is this really the best we can do? I left that experience feeling I could not look away from that question and that issue, and it bothered me for a long time into my career.” She launched Forge in 2022, initially producing 100‑kilogram batches of fuel. By 2025 the company had completed industrial‑scale pilots exceeding 100 tons. “We’ve had our fuels validated over the past four years across seven independent testing labs. You mostly need to demonstrate its strong performance again and again and again,” Boyle said. “We started with 100 kilograms in a Nike bag that we were trying to prove was a viable prototype, and it took us two years to validate that. From there we’ve scaled roughly 18 times as fast and as large. We’ve never failed a spec test.” She added, “This is going to be the model we use for our first flagship facility in Vegas, and that plant will produce just under half a million metric tons of fuel when we’re up and running.” Forge is moving toward construction after Next Phase Capital co‑led a $3.85 million investment in the company. Boyle said the project itself will cost slightly more than $18 million, with funds directed toward equipment, hiring and site development at the North Las Vegas location. “It’s our first commercial facility, which is a huge deal for us. It’s the physical manifestation of so much for us. It’s a truly important milestone,” she said. Shelly Sun Berkowitz, founder and managing partner of Next Phase Capital, previously grew BrightStar Care from a single Chicago location to hundreds nationwide before selling the in‑home care business last year for $750 million. She said Boyle was one of the main reasons she committed a seven‑figure investment to Forge. “I probably talk to 25 to 40 founders per year and make investments in about 5 to 10 of them. Chelsea truly stood out to me,” Sun Berkowitz said. “I look for founders who have that drive and that broad vision. They can articulate it, but they’re also coachable. Chelsea checks each of those boxes, and the business model is strong.” She added, “Forge already had demonstrated commercial demand for a more sustainable fuel that can burn at higher temperatures without requiring customers to make costly changes to existing infrastructure.” “I loved that we could address something that would be impactful for our planet and climate, regardless of politics,” Sun Berkowitz continued. “It’s economically sound, but at the same time it’s better for the environment.” Boyle emphasized that Forge does not simply burn trash. “The company processes waste into a standardized fuel that is then combusted at industrial facilities,” she said. “If you light a plastic bag in your driveway, it’s going to be nasty. When you combust our fuel in these types of industrial facilities, there’s almost nothing left. It’s such a high heat, so it’s really a good spot for alternative fuel.” For Forge, the business case is as important as the environmental one. “Fuel is only ever replaced if it’s cheaper and better,” Boyle said. “You have to be cheaper, you have to be better, and that’s what we’ve been able to achieve.” The Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development granted Forge tax abatements in May, making it one of nine companies to receive the incentive. The award totals $1.6 million in abatements, and the company expects to generate $13.9 million in capital‑investment returns during the first two years of operation. Over the ten‑year abatement period Forge is projected to produce $5.4 million in new taxes, with a total economic impact of $194.7 million. “Forge is more than just one company coming to North Las Vegas. It’s a small piece of a much larger story about Nevada becoming a place where innovative companies can come, build, create jobs and solve real‑world problems,” said Karsten Heise, senior manager of strategic programs and innovation at the GOED. “It’s not just about bringing another company to the state but about bringing a new capability.” Heise continued, “Forge represents a strong opportunity to build another part of Nevada’s emerging clean‑technology and circular‑economy ecosystem and innovative manufacturing that creates good‑paying jobs while addressing a real resource and environmental challenge.” The company anticipates employing 16 full‑time workers at an average wage of $47.50 within the first two years, rising to 24 employees within the first five years. Boyle praised the collaboration with GOED and the city of North Las Vegas. “There are very few states that do it as well as Nevada does,” she said. “The incentives they have on the economic‑development side and the commitment they have to making sure companies that come in receive a substantial public benefit. We spent two years deciding what would be our flagship because it is simply a replica for a large network. We’ve looked at every state we wanted, and none looked as polished and as collaborative as Las Vegas and Nevada. I cannot say that enough. They’ve been wonderful.” She noted that Nevada has the highest national per‑person waste disposal rate at eight pounds per day. Boyle said Forge will generate revenue and be profitable in its first year of operation in North Las Vegas. “That part of the U.S. is simply a huge hub for cement, lime and building materials, everything you need for infrastructure,” she said. “We’re just about 90 percent of our capacity committed.” Once the flagship plant proves successful, Boyle said the model could be replicated worldwide. Her ultimate goal is to eliminate trash globally. “The waste has to go somewhere. You can’t just keep piling it up. It doesn’t go anywhere. It’s insane,” she said. “And human behavior is already pretty locked in. It’s not enough for us to start using bamboo straws. Waste is pretty inevitable. We can change and adapt over time, but there’s so much energy in what’s thrown away.” “We hope to find a way to get rid of it all. I hope that at some point in time we’re so good at using what is no longer wanted by society that we simply run out of trash.”