Hello BESTers,

A company in England, Advetec, has developed a new method for dealing
with food waste. The device, called a Bio Thermic Composter, uses
bacteria called extremophiles to break down food waste at extremely high
temperatures. Extremophiles are microorganisms that are adapted to
temperatures in excess of 100°C (up to 1000°C), and are found in some
of the most inhospitable environments - the bacteria used by Advetec
were harvested from deep-sea ocean vents. Their process uses an
in-vessel composting technique mixing food and other organic wastes with
these extremophiles, starting out at 140 - 150°C and finishing at 300 -
325°C (266 - 617°F), much hotter than traditional anaerobic digestion
or aerobic composting. The process generates its own heat, which
sustains these high temperatures with minimal external energy input
(once up to temperature). Also the waste stream does not have to be
purely organic, as any non-organic material passes through the system;
this is often a hindrance to digestion and composting. The resulting
product is any non-degradable material, typically 3-5% of the initial
feedstock mass, which even if landfilled, is much less harmful than
landfilling food waste outright due to less mass and lack of organic
material. The high heat also drives off water as steam, which can be
condensed and used for other purposes. These aspects help bring down
the cost to affordable levels, as the company claims.

While this article reads somewhat like a sales pitch for the
technology, and I see some inherent disadvantages compared to anaerobic
digestion, namely the reduced or lack of bioenergy and fertilizer
potential, it is nevertheless any interesting technology and something
that certainly that may have a place in solving food waste.

Have a great weekend,
Ryan

http://www.waste-management-world.com/articles/print/volume-15/issue-4/features/the-x-tremophiles.html

The X Tremophiles
Waste Management World
Ben Messenger
September 5, 2014