Processing quarantined materials

An apparatus for destroying biosecurity hazards in quarantined feed materials and producing valuable products that are safe and have economic value, the apparatus including a continuous converter for a feed material including quarantined materials and additional biomass, with the continuous converter including a reaction chamber for producing a solid carbon-containing product, a gas product, and optionally an oil product and a separate water-based condensate product in the chamber, via pyrolysis or other reaction mechanisms, an inlet for supplying the feed material to the reaction chamber, an assembly for moving the feed material through the reaction chamber from the upstream end towards the downstream end of the chamber counter-current to the flow of gas generated in the chamber as a consequence of drying or other reactions in the chamber, and separate outlets for the solid carbon-containing product, the gas product, and optionally the oil product and the water-based condensate product from the reaction chamber.