A South African company, “The Compost Kitchen”, has unveiled an innovative new product, the iCompost, which instantly turns food waste into compost.
According to company, all types of food waste, including coffee grounds, tea bags and eggshells, can be placed into the two-litre product before pressing the start button. After a few hours, the machine yields a dry, natural and nutrient-rich soil amendment that can be used in plants, gardens and on the lawn.
Founder of the company Himkaar Singh said they named the device iCompost because of their belief that every person needs to take responsibility for their waste themselves.
“The simplest way to avoid food waste going to landfill is to have a compost heap in your home garden, but this is not always the most odourless or clean solution. Our iCompost product aims to change that with a sleek-looking device that sits comfortably next to your other kitchen devices and is easy to maintain,” said Singh.
The Compost Kitchen was selected as part of the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship South Africa’s Food Waste Innovation Challenge this year. Executive Director at the Branson Centre Wesley Noble said: “We are extremely proud to be able to share in this exciting news.”
Noble said Himkaar and The Compost Kitchen were selected to the challenge based on the strength of their idea of meeting the twelfth Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations, which is to reduce global food waste by 50% by 2030.
The Compost Kitchen received direct mentorship; access to expert opinions, insights and inputs for their business; third-party collaborations on their purpose; brand identity and marketing; regular progress workshops; and access to legal, IT, accounting and other business services.
According to the enterprise, this had led to the vision of developing Africa’s first kitchen waste-composting appliance coming to fruition in record time. “We believe that iCompost is a direct solution to this and we hope other South Africans will agree,” said Singh.
IOL TECH