How our food composters work

As the post-pandemic need for us to become more sustainable in our businesses, new technologies can assist us in making a difference for our planet while also saving money. BMD Food Composters can be part of that solution.
If food waste and/or compostable packaging is a problem you’re already dealing with, food composters may be a simple answer you’ve yet to discover. A food digester uses the natural breakdown of food waste by microbes. Full aerobic digestion breaks down food waste into carbon dioxide and water in a relatively short amount of time in an oxygenated environment. Our food composters try to replicate this process by turning food waste into a liquid effluent that can be deposited into current sewer systems – or stored to use as irrigation and/or fertilizer in the surrounds of the main facility.
All living species, including our bodies, follow the same laws that control this process. In fact, commercial aerobic digestion technology is sometimes referred to as a “mechanical stomach” since it closely resembles the human digestive process.
Food waste digestion aids in the management of organic waste where it is created. Choosing to treat your food (and later on, the compostable packaging waste on-site) can help you address some of the major food waste challenges, such as eliminating the need for waste to be trucked to a landfill.
Microorganisms efficiently degrade organic waste, and they do it significantly faster in our BMD machines than in breakdown in landfills, which are destructive to the environment.

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food composters started 70 years ago

Since the early 1950s, researchers have been studying aerobic digestion, and since the 1980s, many sewage treatment plants have used a combination of aerobic and anaerobic digestion. Modern food composters are now an accessible, sustainable, and a cost-effective solution for organic food waste disposal., Many facilities in the hospitality industry, have already discovered aerobic digestion, thanks to advances in research and technology over the last few decades.

Composting food waste process

Aerobic digestion, should not be confused with anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion, while similar to aerobic digestion, does not require oxygen and is thus slower and less effective. Anaerobic digestion also produces methane, a harmful greenhouse gas that we want to avoid, as well as hydrogen sulfide, also known as “rotten egg gas.” To cope with food waste, food waste digesters use aerobic digestion.

1. Fill the food composters with organic food waste.
2. Incorporate microbial blends
3. To aid aerobic digestion, the digestor oxygenates food waste.
4. Food waste is digested and broken down into tiny bits by the biochips added. Then liquid is generated by that process, before being discharged as wastewater.
5. The wastewater is filtered through a screen and grease arrestor before being discharged into the existing plumbing system.

videos of food composters in action

Decomposition time

Our BMD food composters can be used 24/7. Food waste can be added during the day. This prevents overloading the food digester when all the food waste from one day is added all at once. There are a lot of reasons why one food waste type digests more rapidly than another one. Most of the food waste will digest within 24 hours.

For compostable packaging and bioplastic, our trials suggest that there is also a big difference in composting time. When the material is thicker and larger, it will most likely take longer to digest PLA and other compostable packaging in our BMD+ Food Composters than it does to compost food waste in our BMD.

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food composters

for PLA PRODUCTS

Polylactic acid, also known as poly(lactic acid) pla, or polylactide is a thermoplastic aliphatic polyester derived from renewable resources, such as corn starch (in the United States), tapioca roots, chips or starch (mostly in Asia), or sugarcane (in the rest of the world).

 

Biodegradable polymers such as PLA are designed to resist a number of environmental factors during use but to be biodegradable under disposal conditions.

The biodegradation of polylactide (PLA) was studied at different elevated temperatures in both aerobic and anaerobic, aquatic, and solid-state conditions. In the aerobic aquatic headspace test, the mineralization of PLA was very slow at room temperature, but faster under thermophilic conditions. The clear effect of temperature on the biodegradability of PLA in the aquatic tests indicates that its polymer structure has to be hydrolyzed before microorganisms can utilize it as a nutrient source.

 

The results of these studies demonstrate that PLA is biodegradable in both aerobic and anaerobic thermophilic conditions. The temperature was shown to be the major factor regulating the biodegradation behavior of PLA.

In thermophilic conditions, anaerobic biodegradation of PLA was even faster than biodegradation in aerobic conditions, probably due to lactic acid being a more favorable substrate for anaerobic than aerobic microorganisms.

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The Benefits of our food composter

Our machine can compost bioplastics

Compost all compostable packaging

No harmfull micro plastics in greywater

Special plant-based BioChips

Reduces or eliminates trash disposal

Reduce frequency and size of collection

Deep technical and operational experience

Waste does not go to a landfill (no methane)

Reduces carbon footprint

Free of odors

Quiet operation

Eliminate flies, rodents, and smells

Our Magic Sauce

OUR Proprietory Enzymes and BioChips: 
In many countries, it’s not allowed to put compostable packaging (PLA-PHA etcetera) into the existing industrial composting waste stream. Most of the compostable packaging products are designed to compost in facilities like this, but still, they are not allowed to be processed in an industrial composting facility. Our goal is to help you solve this problem and give the companies using compostable packaging a positive alternative.

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Plant-based Biochips

Biochips: We wanted to create a food composter that can digest food and compostable packaging. Designing an additional appliance that fits onto our BMD, was the kind of solution that made this dual use possible. The reason why most companies switch to plant-based packaging ( like PLA bottles, cups and cutlery) is that they want to step away from using fossil plastic. Fossil plastic creates microplastics in the environment which create numerous health issues for animals and people.
That’s why we needed to find a solution for a better biochips. Most other food composters are using biochips made from fossil plastic, that could release microplastics into the greywater and into our waste stream. When the Biochips are replaced by new ones. the old ones are often dumped into the garbage, and dumped into a landfill or incineration.

Our BMD supplies 100% plant-based biochips for our food composters.

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Our food composters

Our food compostes operate 24/7 with no odor or noise. They significantly reduce the cost to dispose of and manage waste food and eliminate smells, mess, and pests from your trash bins. By installing the BMD Food Digester, you are reducing the amount of space and energy needed to remove the unwanted food scraps from your facility. It puts collecting, transporting, or piling up food waste in a landfill.

At the same time, it will reduce your costs, and give your organization on-site control over a large portion of the total waste stream.

Food digester - food composter - composting machine - bioplastic composter - Liquid food digester

New design coming soon

Food digester - food composter - composting machine - bioplastic composter - Liquid food digester

New design coming soon

Food digester - food composter - composting machine - bioplastic composter - Liquid food digester

New design coming soon

Small

Machines with a waste process capacity from 25  to 100 kilo’s / day.

Medium

Machines with a  waste process capacity from 250 to 1000  kilo’s / day.

Large

Machines with a waste process capacity from 2500 to 10000 kilo / day

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Food digester - bioplastic digester - food composter - composter machine

horecava

Visit us at the horecava

Amsterdam the Netherlands

9-12 January

Hall 3 - stand 224

Need tickets or want to book an appointment? Let’s get in touch.

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