Businesses such as restaurants, grocery stores and farms are known for generating a lot of food waste. Not only can that waste take up space and attract vermin in landfills, but it can also be costly for those businesses to dispose of. That’s why Nevada-based Bokashicycle introduced a new product this week, the Bokashicycle Food Waste Pulverizer. The machine “shreds, rips, bruises and pulverizes” food waste, allowing more of it to fit within a receptacle, and preparing it for easy composting.
Users start by stepping up onto its loading platform, then dropping bucket-loads of food waste into its hopper. The waste proceeds to be fed from that hopper into the machine’s wonderfully-named “thrashing chamber,” the walls of which are lined with flailing chains that smash, trash and otherwise abuse the unwanted food.
From there, the pulverized garbage drops into a waiting 55-gallon (208-liter) barrel, which can hold approximately 500 pounds (227 kg) of waste. After that, it can simply be disposed of as usual, or – preferably – used to produce compost. The pulverizing of the waste increases its surface area and (in the case of things like fruit) exposes its insides, allowing the bacteria in compost heaps or municipal facilities to process it more quickly and thoroughly.
Should users wish to help boost the process, they can add some Bokashicycle culture mix to each load of waste before dumping it into the machine. This aids in the fermentation of the waste.
The Pulverizer is mounted on wheels and plugs into a standard 220-volt outlet, so it can be rolled into place where needed. It doesn’t contain any hazardous blades, the thrashing chamber is automatically disabled whenever the hopper is removed for maintenance, and the chains are reportedly easy and inexpensive to replace.
It’s available now for US$4,495, plus shipping. If that’s a little too much for your pocketbook, but you still like the idea of minimizing your impact on the environment, Bokashicycle also sells a kit for converting your pet’s poop into plant fertilizer.
The video below shows the Food Waste Pulverizer in action.
Source: Bokashicycle
