John Whitney
Itronics, Inc.

JOHN WHITNEY DOESN’T THINK OF HIMSELF AS AN ENTREPRENEUR. “No, I’m a scientist first,” he says.

True, but the development of Itronics, a Reno business that uses a proprietary process to turn hazardous chemical waste into precious metals and environmentally friendly fertilizers, has required a leader with business sense as well as technical expertise.

And it is Whitney’s innovative thinking, both in science and business, that has allowed the company to weather arduous years of development (15 years and $24 million invested) to finally emerge with strong growth on a path toward profitability.

A mineralogist and geologist by training — Whitney holds a Ph.D. and has a lengthy resume consulting the mining industry on mineralogy issues — he developed the technology behind Itronics after being presented with a problem by the cities of Reno and Sparks to help dispose silvercontaminated liquid photo waste.

Creating a process to separate the silver from the effluent was one challenge, but Whitney discovered the byproduct had nutritional qualities that could potentially benefit agriculture. After extensive testing and tweaking, the fertilizer GOLD’n GRO was born, and it has proven to be a winner, even in a competitive market dominated by large fertilizer companies.

“We’ve shown you can completely eliminate the waste stream,” Whitney says. “And it is one of the most complicated waste streams that exists.”

Now Itronics boasts a business with several revenue centers. Companies pay them to take liquid photo waste, pure silver is extracted and sold, and the fertilizer “byproduct” is used by the agriculture and turf industries to improve yields. “Twelve dollars worth of fertilizer supports $30,000 worth of crops,” Whitney says.

Founded in 1981, the publicly traded company (ITRO) employs 26 full- and part-time employees, supporting an administrative office in south Reno and a 35,000-squarefoot industrial plant in Stead. It is growing at a clip of 40 percent a year, and Whitney is actively developing new products for the consumer market to add to the two it already retails.

Whitney says during difficult years, he was motivated largely by fear of failure. “First, I had a major personal investment, which I didn’t want to lose,” he jokes. “But there is always a fear of failure. I was always used to getting the job done.”