Video: Turning compost into clean electricity
Recent statistics suggest Americans waste up to 40 percent of the food that passes through our kitchens.
Some of that is the fault of poor meal planning, but a majority of that food waste happens because it’s difficult to recycle organic waste in urban environments. There are lots of powerful nutrients in food scraps that are wasted in the landfill, but few communities want to commit to massive composting facilities.
Re-Nuble offers an alternative to the stench of an open air composting heap. The fledgling company seeks to provide clean, cost-effective waste disposal services by collecting organic materials from food producers and eating establishments. After treatment in Re-Nuble’s digester, the organic waste is transformed into nutrient-rich fertilizers and clean electricity, both of which are distributed back into the community.
Re-Nuble is currently trying to crowdfund the money needed to launch its community-based concept. If successful, it would be able to place anaerobic digesters in urban centers to recycle organic waste into renewable energy and green fertilizer. Apparently, getting a permit to park a truck-sized composter in the middle of a city is no easy–or cheap–task.
If properly permitted, however, Re-Nuble could then proceed by partnering with local organic waste producers (restaurants, hotels, caterers, landscapers, farmers, etc.) to help them properly sort their discarded food and clippings for environmentally safe recycling.
After about 20 days in the odorless digester, Re-Nuble would have clean energy to sell back to the grid, and organic fertilizers to give back to the community. This creates what the company calls a closed-loop, net-positive system–it actually produces more than it mitigates!
Unfortunately, it’s looking like Re-Nuble might fall short of its funding goal. If you’d like to give the campaign a boost in its final days, check out their Indiegogo page here.