Composting organic waste is a great way to prevent it from ending up in landfills and releasing methane, a greenhouse gas a lot more potent than CO2. The problem, however, is that in conventional composting conditions, it can take between six and 24 months to turn food scraps into ready-to-use fertilizer.
Seeking to speed up the process, a Malaysian startup has created a composting technique that can do the job in 24 hours. Called Maeko, the company has invented a machine that’s able to compost food scraps in an anaerobic environment, where the temperature and airflow are closely controlled.
The machine first crushes the waste and then agitates it in order to accelerate the composting process. In less than a day, you have bio-organic compost that’s ready to help plants grow.
On top of that, the machine eliminates any unpleasant smells typically associated with rotten food. It does so through its ventilation system, which features a bio-enzyme filtration system that gets rid of odors and breaks down any food waste, including bones and eggshells.
Maeko has a range of different industrial composters aimed at helping businesses and the hospitality industry cut food waste, as well as a small-scale portable device, aptly named Munchbot, designed for home use.
According to the company, recycling one ton of food waste using its rapid-composting devices, rather than sending it to landfills, reduces the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions that would otherwise take 398 trees a year to absorb.
