EnviroPure offers two different systems based on how the system processes the organic food waste: With EPW "wet" systems the waste decomposition
process takes place submersed in water within the reaction chamber. EPD "dry" systems use a substrate based platform to facilitate evaporation of the
moisture content in the food waste over time. Both systems provide processing in batch or continual feed modes with complete decomposition of food
waste typically within twenty four hours and are available in operational processing capacities ranging from 150lbs to 6,000lbs per day.
Landfill? Composting? EnviroPure?
Composting is a natural biological process, whereby bacteria and fungi break down organic material into a simple humus-like product called compost. The
composting process is an aerobic process, meaning that the microorganisms require oxygen to break down the food waste.
Wide spread adoption of composting strategies to deal with food waste represents a major step forward from an environmental perspective. However, large scale composting strategies are still faced with many of the same issues relating to landfill solutions. Industrial and commercial kitchens must still deal with collecting and storing their food waste and the related operational challenges of odors and pests, and maintaining sanitary workplace conditions. The food waste then has to be collected and transported to the composting facility. At the composting facility, industrial equipment is used to turn the compost to maintain the oxygen levels in the piles needed for aerobic decomposition. All of this requires trucks on the road and machinery burning fossil fuels that produce more GHGs.
Large scale composting is also very expensive. Compost facilities of this size require large amounts of land to store and maintain the composting piles. Like landfill sites, these sites are typically located in rural areas outside urban centers requiring long transport distances and more fossil fuels burned to get the waste to the site. The aerobic decomposition process is not 100% efficient resulting in production of some methane gas which has to be contained and captured if the process is to be truly environmentally friendly. This requires complicated and costly methane capture technology. Governments have been subsidizing these costs to steer organizations towards composting solutions to deal with food waste in the municipal waste stream. However, in the face of new and emerging technologies it remains to be seen if large scale composting is an economically sustainable solution in the marketplace.
Wide spread adoption of composting strategies to deal with food waste represents a major step forward from an environmental perspective. However, large scale composting strategies are still faced with many of the same issues relating to landfill solutions. Industrial and commercial kitchens must still deal with collecting and storing their food waste and the related operational challenges of odors and pests, and maintaining sanitary workplace conditions. The food waste then has to be collected and transported to the composting facility. At the composting facility, industrial equipment is used to turn the compost to maintain the oxygen levels in the piles needed for aerobic decomposition. All of this requires trucks on the road and machinery burning fossil fuels that produce more GHGs.
Large scale composting is also very expensive. Compost facilities of this size require large amounts of land to store and maintain the composting piles. Like landfill sites, these sites are typically located in rural areas outside urban centers requiring long transport distances and more fossil fuels burned to get the waste to the site. The aerobic decomposition process is not 100% efficient resulting in production of some methane gas which has to be contained and captured if the process is to be truly environmentally friendly. This requires complicated and costly methane capture technology. Governments have been subsidizing these costs to steer organizations towards composting solutions to deal with food waste in the municipal waste stream. However, in the face of new and emerging technologies it remains to be seen if large scale composting is an economically sustainable solution in the marketplace.
