From food scraps to fertilizer: 5 Newfoundland municipalities join new compost program

CBC

20 hours ago

Five Newfoundland municipalities are providing a new solution for their residents' chicken bones and potato peels.
The towns of Gander, Corner Brook, Pasadena, Conception Bay South, and Portugal Cove-St. Philip's have partnered with Food Cycle Science to cost-share a new technology called the FoodCycler, which diverts kitchen waste out of the dump.
The Foodcycler is a small appliance that looks similar to an air fryer, but it turns table scraps into fertilizer.
"Meat, dairy, bones, pits, shells and napkins, paper towels, coffee grinds. You throw it all into this bucket, then put it into the machine. When you press the button, it will run between six and eight hours or overnight," said Food Cycle Science's director of municipal programs, Christina Zardo.
During its runtime, Zardo said, the machine will heat and grind the food waste. Once complete, there will be a small amount of fertilizer that can be used as a soil amendment or compost additive.
"[It's] allowing you to take all the nutrients from your food waste and enrich your soils with it by putting it back into the earth, all within the confines of your own home," Zardo told CBC.
The fertilizer created, Zardo added, will reduce landfill emissions that contribute to climate change. It's an efficient energy source, and she said it doesn't create a smell.
"Depending on where you are on the grid, it usually costs between five and 10 cents a cycle," Zardo said. "The bucket is a really well-built aluminum bucket and has a filtered lid so it keeps all the fruit flies and smell away."
Newfoundland and Labrador doesn't have an active compostable waste program in place.
Zardo said the Foodcycler is a commercial product that is subsidized through its municipal programs. With the subsidy, its two models will cost residents between $200 and $300.
"Food waste is yucky, it's stinky, it attracts animals, it fills up our garbage, it fills up our landfills. So whatever we can do to recirculate those nutrients back into our earth, we should do that," she said.