Most folks – particularly those in big cities and those who’d rather not get their hands dirty – just kind of forget about composting as a way of reducing the food waste they send to the landfill. But now a company from my home town is offering a machine that cuts the process from months to hours…
The FoodCycler: Is there a place for it on your kitchen counter?
It sure sounds great: a new countertop machine that converts fresh food waste to dry, odourless compost in about 8 hours. You get free organic fertilizer for your garden and a good feeling about what you’re doing for the environment. Sound too good to be true? We’ll see…
How it works
Food Cycle Science of Ottawa is working on the next version of its FoodCycler, but the first the first retail model of the machine some folks say every household should have is already in mass production. You can even get it on Amazon.
The FoodCycler is about the size of a large food processor or bread machine, and shares some of the same features: Notably, a large plastic bucket, a rotary agitator and a thirst for electricity. We’ll get to that last one a little later.
Here’s what you do
You put selected food waste items in the 2.5 L bucket and turn the unit on. That’s it, apparently. Three to 8 hours later (depending on what you put in) you get a small amount of clean, concentrated, granular, odourless organic fertilizer. The machine quietly dries and grinds the waste material at a high heat, then cools it down to a safe handling temperature. Sounds a little like operating a pottery kiln: very high temperatures are employed, making it dangerous to fiddle with the device while it’s in operation. And it takes a while to cool down.
The product of the process will be much smaller than what you initially load into the bucket. The device is claimed to reduce the waste mass by up to 80 percent. That’s good. And then you can spread it on your lawn or garden. It should be great for potting soil blends; the recommended ratio is one part ‘foodalizer’ to ten parts black earth.
What about the smell?
The FoodCycler doesn’t usually emit any detectable odour – if you load it and use it correctly. It employs a pair of large, high-capacity charcoal filters to make sure that none of the smells associated with the decomposition of the waste material escape the machine. The FoodCycler apparently blows a lot of air through itself in the drying phase. The cost of replacement filters should be part of your equation when deciding to purchase the machine.
A picky eater…
First of all, the manufacturer warns you not to put certain foods in the machine: The manual says to avoid large concentrations of starches (bread, etc.), citrus fruit rinds, condiments, sauces and soups, spreads (peanut butter, jams, jellies), and high-sugar fruits. It should go without saying, but knowing that a lot of folks these days have limited experience with, and knowledge of the old ways, FoodCycler specifically warns against putting meat bones in the device. You’d jam it, and probably blow something. And they want you to cut high-fibre materials, “such as corn peels and pineapple leaves,” into small pieces. And, as if assuming the user has no experience with appliances – or any common sense at all – the manual warns against trying to ‘foodcycle’, “[fruit] pits, gum, candy, nuts or [nut] shells.” Can you imagine the mess? The damage those items might cause to the machine?
Well… Legal challenges brought against food manufacturers and sellers over the past few decades have resulted in a whole slew of warnings some reasonable and reasonably intelligent folks might find ridiculous and redundant. For example, when a woman sued McDonald’s after spilling a cup of McCoffee in her lap, the Fast Food giant started printing ‘CAUTION: HOT!’ right under the rim on all their cups – to avoid being sued for the same reason again.
The bottom line is, you’re still consigning a lot of stuff to the landfill, especially if you’re unwilling to do the prep work the manufacturer prescribes.
Energy consumption an issue?
The FoodCycler manual comes right out and admits it uses 2 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per month, just on standby mode. The machine is rated at 500 watts maximum consumption while operating, for hours at a time. That’s the same as five conventional 100 watt light bulbs. Check your electricity bill. How many kWh a month do you already use? How much does your electricity provider charge per kWh? Do you really want to pay for at least 2 more? Plus the ‘operating overhead’?
What’s ‘foodalizer’ worth?
On the other hand, you do get back quality fertilizer from the process. What’s the value of that ‘new resource’? CIL Golf Green (premium lawn fertilizer) costs about $1.27 per pound / $2.80 per kg. A comparable locally-produced high-nitrogen Mushroom Compost costs about $0.25 per pound / $0.55 per kg. I have no basis on which to calculate the value per lb. / kg of the Foodalizer you would produce using the FoodCycler. But you only get a few handsfulls of it per cycle. So, given you would run the FoodCycler an average of two or three times a week, it would take some time and a fair amount of electricity to produce a worthwhile amount.
The bottom line? You would probably feel a lot better about purchasing and using a FoodCycler for other reasons – like protecting and giving back to the environment. You’ll never make enough Foodalizer to feed more than a few potted plants or a small backyard vegetable patch. And you’ll certainly never get rich selling it!
Commercial scale issues
Food Cycle people also invite inquiries about commercial and industrial sized applications of their technology. They’re ready to talk turkey, if not fill orders immediately. This, I imagine, is where their big profits will come from.
Interestingly, there’s a historical precedent for the profitable recycling of organic waste. The city of Milwaukee’s Metropolitan Sewerage District has been using nutrient rich sewage water to grow microbes that are them dried and bagged and sold as Milorganite – a high-nitrogen fertilizer comparable to Golf Green, Mushroom Compost and Foodalizer.
Milorganite has been produced in huge quantities since 1926, and is shipped all over North America. It’s guaranteed slow-release and non-burning, and is sold at a price comparable to that of Golf Green. It’s also available at many nursery garden centres in the spring and summer.
So… Will more municipalities get into the organic fertilizer game using FoodCycle technology? It’s seen as an advantageous option to conventional composting of green box waste, and a potential money-maker, as well as a means of giving back to the environment and the community – not to mention establishing the city’s credentials as a good ‘corporate’ citizen. Or at least elevating those bone fides to greater heights.
For now, though…
I’ve intentionally held off talking about the cost of the machine itself. If you’re still interested, ask yourself if you’d pay an average of $450.00 for one. Prices online vary from $399.00 to $499.00, depending on the reseller.
I’m not sure I’d buy or use a FoodCycler here in my home. I guess it’s only fair to say that I’m already too acutely attuned to conventional composting and mushroom compost to change my ways. Especially considering the tiny ’boutique’ quantities of Foodalizer the home version of the machine produces. But the notion of turning selected kitchen waste into rich, clean fertilizer you can use around your home may appeal to you. If so, go for it!
~ Maggie J.