Not a Composter, a Breville Foodcycler

Great review. The product is marketed to satisfy a niche need, but is far from a great solution. It fails to deliver considering there must also be a substantial carbon cost in the manufacturer and supply of the product, before the carbon cost of running it off the grid is even considered. As the review points out, there are so many more practical, cheaper and efficient alternatives.

Possibly @Fred123 meant ‘The Plague’, although the FoodCycler might run a close second. :rofl:

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I’ve been using a Korean made Smart Cara for over a year. I’ve only replaced the filters once, cut them open and the charcoal inside goes on the garden as does the dehydrated compost. I have no idea as to the electrical running costs but my bills are not high. I live in a half block house with a tiny courtyard garden so digging garden holes for compost wouldn’t work. I’m happy with the Smart Cara.

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Looks a lot like the Breville thingie.
With very similar marketing hype and technology it will likely perform or not, as poorly.

https://www.urbangreenfarms.com.au/product-page/zero-waste-unit-by-smart-cara

One kilo capacity and equally as expensive.

Or

Think you’ve been pretty kind to Breville, here. Disappointing you weren’t able to dig into the science of what actually happens to the chips. Do they really minimise methane in landfill, if put in your bin? Are they really able to be mixed into topsoil?

You’d still need to essentially compost the ecochips in your yard (they say 3 months … did you test or look into?).

My understanding of it is that it’s not only more costly, but provides no additional benefit. You don’t need to test the product to find this out - it’s simple science. I note that you haven’t answered the question of “How does the FoodCycler perform?” merely ‘how does it operate?’. There’s a meaningful difference.

Missed opportunity folks.

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It is a very good question.

If the Foodcycler reduces the amount of carbon placed into it (such as heating high enough to cause all volitile organic carbon and other organic carbon sources to turn into gas - a burning or charring process), then possibly yes. Such process doesn’t occur in the Foodcycler from information available.

If the end product from the Foodcycler was a stable form of carbon, then also possibly yes. Such process doesn’t occur in the Foodcycler and would require high temperatures and pressures.

If it only removes water and is a dehydration process, then the amount of carbon in is likely to equal amount of carbon out (maybe with minor VOC losses through heating). The difference in methane fròm the chips in landfill and untreated waste would be in discernible.

If the Foodcycler ‘burns/chars’ (gasifies) the waste, this is something I would not want in our kitchen as it could significantly impact on indoor air quality.

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:clap: :clap: :clap: Thanks. So in other words … if it actually works, it’s a health hazard similar to in-home combustion heaters etc.

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If it burnt/charred or gasified the waste, yes…but this isn’t how it works. It function is to apply modest heat to evaporate off water causing a reduction in volume.

Water is needed for methane production in a landfill, but there is sufficient water in the landfills to allow dry waste to be hydrated and broken down by methane producing microbes. So removing water by itself has no methane reducing benefit.

Think of it like a plum and prune. The prune takes up less volume as water has been removed from the plum. Why make prunes when one can àlso eat a plum.

Which takes us back to the question of why you would want to dehydrate your plums (or anything else) before you put them in the garbage. As I said upthread - a product looking for a purpose.

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