Taking care of food waste on site

According to the Do Something! Food Wise campaign, it is estimated that every year over 4 million tonnes of food waste is going into landfill which is being carted by over 450,000 garbage trucks throughout Australia. The food waste costs about $8 billion dollars per year and, worse still, the food is rotting in landfill which creates methane, a greenhouse gas claimed to be 21 times worse than car exhaust fumes. Another astonishing statistic, according to the Victorian Sustainability Council, is that more than 50 - 60% of commercial food waste ends up in landfill.

Totally Environmental (Australia) has recently launched a food and green waste composting technology which could stop the millions of tonnes of food waste ending up in Australian landfill sites every year.

The technology was originally developed and proven in Sweden. Totally Environmental has adopted and modified the technology to work in Australia creating a unique Food Waste Recycling solution for the Asia-Pacific region.

“Essentially, we provide a solution to treat the waste on site and at source,” says Totally Environmental Managing Director Cliff Benns. This means that the companies producing the waste can install a food composter on site and deal with it before it leaves the premises.

The composter technology works through a process of combining heat and naturally derived plant bacteria (microbes) where food and green waste is broken down to natural compost within 24 - 48 hours. It is claimed that the food placed into the composter will be broken down by up to 90% of its volume within 24 hours. For example, if 100 kg of food is put into the composter, it will be reduced by 90% to produce 10 kg of nutrient-rich compost in 24 hours. The compost can then be used by the company on its own gardens or grounds, taken home by the employees or donated to community garden projects.

The process not only reduces food waste leaving the premises by up to 90%, it also assists in eradicating unpleasant food odours caused by food awaiting collection. As the process is carried out on site, it can also have a significant impact on the amount of food waste being carted around the country, thereby reducing the user’s carbon footprint. Furthermore, food waste disposal costs (from collection, to cartage and disposal) can be significantly reduced, if not eliminated.

In Australia recently there has been a significant drive by state and local governments to start reducing food waste going to landfill and achieve ‘zero food waste to landfill’ targets. Benns says its technology and business model can provide some distinct opportunities to address this issue and address it quickly.

Machines are able to process most foods - from fruit and vegetables, breads, meats to chicken and even fish bones. Models are available from a 10 kg capacity per day for cafes and small restaurants to a 2.3 tonnes per day capacity.

The largest machine range can be modulated to form composting stations with a capacity of up to a 15 tonnes of food waste per day (that’s 547,500 tonnes per year). This option is suitable for regional locations and can deal with household food waste from between 20 - 80,000 people.

Totally Environmental can also provide a Customer Care program which includes the option to have the resultant compost taken away free of charge as part of the regular site support visit. Benns said the remote monitoring technology keeps a real-time view of each machine’s operating parameters via the cellular data network. “We will know if there is a problem with a machine even before the client does,” he says.

Benns said the company wants to share the technology and has recently set up franchise and strategic partner models in an attempt to help change the way Australians handle food waste.