Just Google “fully automatic composting machines”, a number of companies making out-of-the-world claims pop up instantly. Among them, “composting in 24 hours” is the most common.
I have been approached by a few vendors in Bengaluru to write about their products as a community composting method. When I met them, each vendor made different claims although all of them ran on similar technology. Some had sophisticated temperature display panels and the rest were basic. The shapes and sizes varied, too. But all of them seemed to consume power and let out CO2 intensely. Interestingly, none of the vendors buckled when I pressured them to get compost samples tested. They politely said they would, but never came back. Secondly, none of them came up with carbon emission analysis either.
Composting in 24 hours?
Please refer to this post on how composting happens. Composting is a process that progresses in stages and at each stage, certain types of microbes enter the pile and work their magic on it. Can all this happen in 24 hours, flat?
The claims
When I grilled a vendor, he claimed that they have imported “special microbes” from Canada. What does that mean? These particular microbes are not present in the Indian soil? Or, are these typically those that survive at sub-zero conditions but become suddenly hyperactive in a hot region?
I have been told that this ‘process’ doesn’t need a shredder as the machine itself will take care of it inside. In fact, even thick branches get ‘composted’ in 24 hours. How does that happen? A vendor replied that the temperature goes up and helps break down the material completely. As already discussed, only extremophiles survive at 122°C. Does that mean these machines are loaded with only extremophiles? If yes, then who will fill in for fungi and actinomycetes?
One vendor also claimed that these microbes can survive without food for one year. Now that’s another claim one should be wary about.
Is it compost or burnt carbon?
When I cross-checked all these findings with an expert, he said that “what comes out of these machines is not compost, but burnt carbon”. Since he has also been promoting his own composting system, he didn’t want to be quoted for obvious reasons. However, he regretted how government authorities are falling for these claims and letting such machines hit the market without due diligence. More importantly, he was concerned about the wrecked-up electrical conductivity of such ‘compost’ which can damage the soil composition and kill the plants.
Test reveals “zero” microbes
The above corroboration of facts was the final nail. But still, taking refuge in a laboratory test seemed sensible. I teamed up with compost expert Vani Murthy and her team-mate Shyamala Suresh and got a sample from one such machine tested. When the microbial load turned out to be “zero”, it answered all the doubts. Compost with zero microbes?
I sincerely hope that the vendors come out clean on this particular claim and tell what it exactly is instead of passing it off as “nutritious compost”. Those who still want may buy the product. But those who are genuinely in need of quality compost can look for other options.
Moreover, these machines consume huge amounts of power and emit CO2, thereby defeating the very purpose of reducing carbon footprint as far as solid waste management goes. The entire philosophy behind supporting sustainable solutions is rooted in the fact that our own so-called solutions should not boomerang on us and trigger a new set of problems. But that doesn’t seem to be the case with this.
Every credibility gap is a gullibility fill
This line rings so true in this context! The stinking garbage piles are reaching new heights, so is the mad rush for finding solutions. Those that promise fast results catch our attention but we refuse to ask even basic questions.
One may argue that it’s better than sending the wet waste to landfills. But that’s not a rational explanation to the crisis at hand. In fact, the genesis of landfill crisis all over the world lies in the “out of sight, out of mind” attitude. If we are ready look at these automatic composters as a solution, we should also be content with incinerators at every road curve. They will ‘solve’ the landfill crisis in a few weeks, won’t they?
The only way to prevent more vendors from jumping on to this ‘24-hour compost’ bandwagon is to reject quick-fixes and look for sustainable composting options. There are quite a few that suit your budget, space and other constraints.
Let’s compost responsibly. That’s the only way forward.
I request all the discerning readers and experts to forward their thoughts and comments (for or against) towards a constructive discussion on these fully automatic composting machines. Please present your thoughts with proper data in case you disagree with my findings and interpretations presented here. Thank you.
ENDLESSLY GREEN 
This is an Eye Opening Review of the so called Instant Composters, These are mainly the Hot Composters & they are truely misleading to people who need Large scale composters to go with such products !
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Thanks for your comments, Vijay.
Good day.
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Quick composting may be aimed to reduce the processing area.
But what if slow composting needs no extra area and produces better quality compost(like slow cooking produces better results)?
When composting takes place in presence of actively growing plants, there is complete utilisation, hence no creation of soil, wster or air pollution. It is also fast. Needs least area. Plants grow fast and are healthy. Need no other fertilisers or pesticides and excess water.
Machines need electricity, make sound, have wear and tear. Also the produced compost is of poor quality. Produces soil, water, sound and air pollution.
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EcoLogically best composting should be what happens in Nature!
Leaf litter and other biowaste just acts as mulch. Becomes food and clothing for mother earth. Plants grow healthy… automatically without human inputs.
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I think this test result will really help all of us service providers in helping the customers not getting carried by “quick composting” and hence “less space required” solutions. Thanks Savita and Vani!
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Divya, the lab test became inevitable because the vendors kept dodging my requests. Look at the EC in that. It crosses 1000!
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Such compost is actually BioAsh!
And such composting is BioIncineration!
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Perfect words to describe. How is your research going DR. Bhawalkar? I have invented a wonder product but unfortunately people are not aware of it. His Excellency from Abu Dhabi always remembers you.
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People should realize composting naturally is the best method, which is obviously a time taking one. The wait and hard work is worth.. Patience is Virtue!! Thanks a lot Savita madam and Vani ji for creating the best possible awareness by doing all the ground work, take all the pain and teach us.
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Your support is much appreciated, Dileep. 🙂
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Really an eye opening review, Savitha! Thanks a lot for publishing this.
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Very well written Savitha, an eye opener for many!
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it is really alarming how busines in the name of competition has stooped to such unethical practices. Quality being ingrained in me, i thank you savitha, foryour blatant exposure. i am with you like others. god bless.
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Thank you, Dr Sundaram. Encouraging words… 🙂
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dear ms savitha greetings i adore your articles and write ups. kind regards dr sundaram
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Thanks for putting in the effort to bust these scams-in-the-making. More strength to the likes of you. These fraudsters are cashing in on people’s good intentions/guilt. I hope there is some kind of audit process to eliminate fraudsters from the genuine solutions. I’ll share this post on my social media channels.
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dear savita ji
reg…… closed bin method for working people as propounded by mrs vani murthy, can you kindly tell me where and who is supplying these bins. also can you please share mrs.vani’s contacts so that i will learn better from her as to use these . thanks and regards sundaram bangalore Ph:9731833455
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I will talk to Mrs Vani Murthy about it. Thanks.
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Thanks for the enlightening article. This should be publicised widely to prevent fraudsters from promoting these machines.
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Savitha Mam,
That’s an enlighting post by you. HoweverI I wounder it’s not just households that are falling prey to these claims but so are many corporates in their swanky offices. I had an opportunity to see some of the big corporates composting facilities in bangalore and was left wondering is this also a compost. I feel it’s high time there is awareness created to people on composting and the simple (complex for many) mechanism involved. I would rather look at Cow dung slurry as a inoculate rather then costly cultured microbial consortia developed in labs as a start. The shredding and mixing done in mechanised systems can easily be done with some manual effort.
Common man falling prey is one part but governments and corporates falling prey to these claims calls for some high level of awareness creation.
Regards,
Ajay
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You are right, Ajay. It’s disappointing to see such products getting approved and entering the market. I also agree with your love to work with cow dung but let me tell you, it’s not easily available in all areas of Bangalore. Moreover, we will be pushing it too far if we pressure people to use only dung as an inoculant. There’s nothing wrong in using lab-produced inoculants so long as it does not subvert the principles of nature. Expediting the whole composting process becomes inevitable as space is a major constraint. But this particular one cannot be called a ‘solution’ as it does not stick to any basic rules of composting.
Thanks for your comment. 🙂
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Savitha, the write up is very informative and with sufficient fore-warnings. At Sovereign Park, as you have seen, we are very happy with the simple and efficient process installed by Sudh-Labh. No power needed and no C-footprints. No hurry either. The normal natural conversion takes 10-12 weeks to start off and thereafter compost output depends on the rate of loading the digestor. We are 40 apartments and no wet waste has gone out of the premises since Sept. 2014. We are using the compost in our own garden till now. There may be similar simple alternatives, sans powered equipments and accelarators. People should think in totality, discuss with the experienced, visit and see working sites and decide. Arise, awake and appreciate !
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Hi Gopinath,
We have 171 flats, would like to go for waste management. I too contacted by several vendors for 24 hours magic (cost varies from 4.5 Lakhs to 12 lakhs depends upon the size), But After seeing you post, would like to go for normal natural conversion. I would like to discuss with you further, Can you drop a mail to me: murugaraj.s@gmail.com
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Thanks Savitha Mam, Eve opening review, we had a plan to procure but, your review helped us lot.
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I am supporting natural composting. Since last 4years I am converting my kitchen waste in rotary drun composter developed by me.you can use the compost as bulking agent as well as starter.
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Dear Madam,
Request to please give your comment on ECOMAN’S Waste Management System ” FOODIE”, who have supplied equipment to various instityutions and hotels which convert Waste to Manure within 24 hours and cost of such machine for 1TPD waste is approx 35 lakhs INR. Even they produced Compost test certificate certified by Goa Pollution Control Board. I am really surprised how the waste will be converted to manure within 24 hours.They say in their brochure ” high technology which naturally converts waste to compost within 24 hours by using special micro organisms developmed through advanced bio-technology. They say their special microorganisms thrive in high temperature and effective in highly acidic and salty conditions. Please clarify me technically to have better clarity.
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Mr Parameshwar, Whether it is Ecoman/Foodie or any other, I request you to pull out a little sample out of the ‘compost’ lot coming out of one such machine and get it tested at a good material testing lab. Please do not depend on the reports produced by the vendors, no matter where they got it done from. I request you to do some research on your own and talk to scientists, eco activists you know. What I am not able to understand is people’s urge to buy this machine which comes at lakhs of rupees just as they would buy an instant coffee maker. Please think this through. I am sure your test report won’t be different from the one I have put up here. Once you have it in your hand, I request you create awareness among people/potential buyers.
Thank you.
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Dear Ms. Savitha Hiremath, we recently started marketing these Quick Composting machines in the Middle East and the response is good. I was not aware of these points you had raised. Is it possible to meet and discuss this issue personally? I will be in Mumbai on 12th November. Regards. Viren Narkar
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Missed out on this one, Mr Viren.Given how destructive these machines can get, I request you to please do further research and see for yourself what a havoc they can leave behind on the soil and also the food (if at all) grown on it. Sorry that I couldn’t reply to you on time and missed you meeting as well. Please stay in touch: endlesslygreen360@gmail.com, and watch out this blog for more articles on this subject. Thank you.
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Hi ,
Read your page on Fully Automatic Composting Machine , quite informative . No fully automatic composting manufacturer are ready to discuss on the quality of compost .
Priorities are different for Organic Waste disposal ;
” Waste disposal because of Govt. pressure ” ,
” Compost manufacturing & quality ” ,
” To reduce cost of handling & disposal ” ,
” Non availability of land for sustainable disposal ” ,
” Lack of awareness or pressure from society ” .
” Compromise on quality of compost for fancy looking product ” .
” Use of fancy looking OWC m/c as a show piece ” .
How to select right product for ” Composting of Organic Waste ” in green & sustainable way .
Regards, Bikash Asthana
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Thanks for your detailed inputs. Some vendors also produce regular compost, get it tested and pass it off as a testimonial to their own instant compost. Customers must do their homework before buying such machines. Regards.
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Ms. Savitha Hiremath,
PL GIVE YOUR COMMENTS ON –
JERS Environment Technologies Private Limited, installed a Japanese M/c costing Rs 3.5 crores at Block3 Koramangala, in June 2016. Machine composts in Hours. High temp and pressure is used..
Our soc (540 flats) is searching for wet waste disposal via composting normal way or OWC. Having read your blog OWC is out. But I am curious about this 3.5 crore machine that has BBMP clearance. Will it work to produce compost of any usable value ?
Bikram Satpathi
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Bikram – You may want to reach out to 8291 125 109 to discuss more. Savitha – sorry I am responding on your behalf, but I feel that its very difficult for working professionals to devote energy and time to do the composting process. If the intent is right, and the society and the partner agree that it will be a 100% natural biocomposting process achieved in a period of about 40 days, its best to go on a Pay as you go or CAAS model.
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Hi Savita ,
Did you ever sent compost ( as claimed by automatic OWC machine manufacturer ) generated from any automatic OWC machine , to any govt. approved lab for their quality check . Few manufacturers are not only adopting wrong practices to reduce volume of organic waste but their cost of conversion also is very high. Power consumption is huge , adds CO2 to environment and increases carbon economy .
Area of least importance and Lack of awareness are making institutions , organisations to pay huge amount in the name of faster relief from organic waste .Actual process and output compost quality should be highlighted and shared with concerned and interested individuals, organizations , institutions & Govt. authorities
Probable user dept. / institutions / NGOs should try the machines and get output quality checked in govt. certified lab. before ordering the same. Regards,
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Some thoughts:
Quality of compost will depend upon waste input to the machine.is it right?
The output compost or carbon as you define can be used to make a healthy soill with little bit of manual mixture of other rich ingredients.So These machines are primarily reducing the volume of garbage and providing immediate relief to stinking garbage.thats good value for money.!
Some rich neem cakes or similar can be added to input waste to get better quality of compost. May be ..
Consumption of power is really an issue,then on reality can urban life put off their central AC first to reduce carbon in our cities..?
OWC looks like a urban solution only of garbage everywhere..perhaps composting is another step to be adopted after 24 hours with human and natural involve.
Am just trying to have clarify as am going to buy one.
Savita..I will not agree to the test report you clipped here.It is not from any research laboratories run by our government.( they give you clear report fortunately) as ms Essen & co exmpteded themselves on buttom on the clarity / conformity of their report and it isa private lab only.And the report should be considered with WHAT WAS THE INPUT WASTE? I don’t see anyone talking about that.
I am not favoring coz am buying but curious that let there be quality facts..it will be better to invite scholar to this topic that calling some innovation or experiment as fraudulent.
Smiles
EcoSmith.
.
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Dear Mr EcoSmith,
Thank you for your comments. As suggested by you, this comment was forwarded to a scholar the same day it hit my blog. You are free to go ahead and buy whichever machine you want. But you will have to wait for the reply to arrive. I am not sure how long that will take.
Good luck.
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>>>And the report should be considered with WHAT WAS THE INPUT WASTE? I don’t see anyone talking about that.
Input: Segregated kitchen waste like vegetable peels/rejects/leftovers, fruit peels, meat waste, egg shells, dairy waste, etc. Some bits of non-biodegradable waste may have also gone in.
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Dear Mr EcoSmith,
Your query has been answered by a scientist. Please spare sometime to read it.
As you rightly pointed out, I am not a scholar. But, surely someone with enough commonsense who knows the difference between compost and charred waste. There can be no beginning or end to discussion on the points you have raised. However, let me pick out one: biomass. Loss of biomass has resulted it severe soil erosion in farm fields all over India (I request you to search for an article related to biomass in my blog for more info). We urbanites get our daily food items supplied from rural areas and send nothing in return. The soil needs humus to sustain itself and its ecosystem. Lack of biomass means excessive use of chemical fertilisers. The result is repetitive pest attacks. Then use of pesticides. Then both the farm and the farmer suffering incalculable losses beyond our comprehension. The stress on composting in urban areas is to mitigate this crisis in the most humble manner: by sending out excess compost to nearby farm fields. A lot of measures are already being discussed with BBMP which is ready to buy back compost and sell it to farmers at reasonable rates. One such truck filled with compost was flagged off recently and sent to a nearby farmfield. Let’s learn to contribute solutions to this horrible crisis instead of adding our own.
Your way of composting reduces the precious organic waste by at least 80-90%. Is this something we can afford? Secondly, if you say let’s first deal with the waste in your way before taking the larger picture into account, then I am not going to participate in that discussion. Because, it is this search for instant gratification, ‘out of sight, out of mind’ attitude that has brought things to such a pretty pass in the first place.
There have been customers who have burnt their waste as well as money by buying these machines. My latest post on this topic has all the info, if you want to read. As for accuracy of the lab results, I know how some vendors got ‘tests’ done from some govt labs which were simply too good to be true. That’s when the need to get samples tested (not just the charred one, but all other genuine ones like vermicompost and compost from various other composting methods) done from a private lab arose without them knowing anything about the issue at hand. So it’s up to you whether you want to use this info or pooh-pooh it.
One last thing: Even DNA results from the most reputed labs abroad are only 99.99% accurate. FYI.
Thanks.
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hi, i am Dr Manoj, chemist, working in waste management research for last 15 years. Savita Ji wanted me to put a few thoughts on the discussion above,
Composting is breaking down of complex chemical molecules like carbohydrates including cellulose, fat, protein, lignin etc into small compounds (monomers/dimers) such that either the monomers form food for the microbes or dont harm them. For eg: carbohydrates are the sugar source, Protein is the amino acid source etc while degradation of lignin is very important for the microbes to sustain – as lignin is created by nature to protect the plants from bacterial infection.
There is no microbe in this universe that can colonize in 24 hrs. the minimum incubation time is 48-72 hrs and it take days to colonize and start degrading. (may be 15-20 days). Thus 24 hrs composting solution do not compost. Now an argument can be that 24 hrs compost machines actually do not empty out the product in 24 hrs and we keep adding waste for the next 20 -25 days and that by this time the microbes can grow. Even under this circumstances the microbes cannot grow because of the decreasing moisture content. Thus the out put of a 24 hr composting machine is just charred and dehydrated waste.
Now the problem starts. if the waste was composted under natural conditions, the lignin would have got degraded, reducing EC value, hosting microbes, generating humus which eventually will become carbondioxide to be absorbed by plants. (the natural cycle)
By dehydrating, we make it sterile, with high EC value, leaching out phenols which will not only kill microbes but also prevent decomposition of even dead leaves, blocking humus formation, thereby stopping electrolytic transfer of nutrients to the roots, presence of phenols also adsorb cationic (positive charged) micronutrients starving the plants, thus completely killing the soil. the result is equivalent to what happened in Punjab due to excessive chemical fertilisers. The product will not degrade till the material again get dehydrated, natural ligno-cellulytic microbes colonise it, degrade the lignin and allow the bacteria to compost.
Now on the test report, leaving the judgement on the analytical lab to the hands of social leaders (essen has been a credible lab to me for the last so many years), irrespective of the input the composting process should bring down the EC value to not more that 20Milli mhos ( actually i prefer 10) it is 100 times more in this product. The C:N ratio of the best compost possible is 20:1. Any further enhancement is only by chemical addition or because of dehydration.
Irrespective of the technical stuff i have made above, as a human being awe stuck by the plundering of resources by humans, I may humbly add that any short cuts deceiving nature’s rules and regulations only have created havoc. Be it creation of waste or its management. The reason for this is the inability of an average urbanite to physically handle his own life by product due to “pseudo hygiene consciousness” and lack of physical health which necessitates more convenience. In every era there were scientists and technicians who churned out such ruthless products, create market requirements by playing around the “convenience/ automatic/quick mindset of people. Unless we learn to work physically a little more, science will become what religion is doing now – kill people. If religion, which was supposed to create spiritual healing has created psychopaths, science is going to create couch potatoes who dont want to move and kill themselves (akin to suicide bombers) and also kill others (by preaching convenience).
Great job Savita Ji to initiate a discussion on this. I am delighted to see so many like minded who wish to accept the nuances of “in-convenience” and move forward.
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Dear Dr Manoj, thank you for penning down one such eye-opener! Your busy schedule notwithstanding. Only rarely do we come across scientists who are ready to get down to the streets and start implementing solutions. You have been one such guiding light for all of us who believe in sustainability the way Nature meant it. Each time you write, I end up learning something. Can’t thank you enough for this.
Good day,
Savita
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is there an error ?
By dehydrating, we make it sterile, with high EC value, leaching out phenols which will not only kill microbes but also prevent decomposition of even dead leaves, blocking humus formation, thereby stopping electrolytic transfer of nutrients to the roots, presence of phenols also adsorb cationic (positive charged) micronutrients starving the plants, thus completely killing the soil. the result is equivalent to what happened in Punjab due to excessive chemical fertilisers. The product will not degrade till the material again get DEHYDRATED, natural ligno-cellulytic microbes colonise it, degrade the lignin and allow the bacteria to compost
word DEHYDRATED should read HYDRATED
satpathi
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Bikram Ji, Yes that was an error. it’s “re-hydrating”. Thanks for pointing out
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Dr Manoj,
Quick question: Is it possible that if an end user gives the microbes a chance to colonize and start the degrading process for the first time say 25 odd days and once that starts happening the daily waste added would be decomposed much faster since the microbes are already present and active and also the incremental amount of waste on a per day basis may be relatively small and therefore the composting would hopefully happen much more quickly. What I am trying to ask is, could you shed some light on how much time would it typically take to compost <1 kg of waste if the microbes are already present and thriving.
Thanks very much.
Parag
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Good question. I will ask Dr Manoj to reply as soon as possible. Thanks
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savitha ji, regret the delay in reply to Parag Ji. was in a place which is one among the rare place in the planet without 3G.
Parag Ji. good question as metioned by Savita Ji. you have refined the question in the last line. irrespective of the quantity of waste, for quick incubation, minimum 2% microbial inoculum need to be added into it. Thus for 1Kg, 20 gms. it will take 36 hrs for the microbes to colonize. now the next question is can we keep adding the waste teh second day. Yes we need to add fresh mircobes as above. However the 3rd day we have around 1Kg of populated media which we can be considered inoculum for 50Kg waste. by the end of the 6th day we have 50Kg inoculmn 2500KG waste. Hence the idea that microbes can populate rapidly over days is fine. However to compost – is a different scenario. a completely inocualted waste will take atleast 25 days to compost (in tthe best conditon of temparature and humidity) to an ec value less than 20 millimhos. This is where it doesnt match with the 24 hr — whatever. That means nothing happens in 24 hrs,. for inoculating 36 hrs and for composting, 1gm to whatever quantity will take 25 days minimum. that means the volume of the waste will start reducing only by the 20th day. then how can I keep on adding 100’s of Kg into the same vessel??that means the volume is reducing by some other mechanism. that is dehydration. biological materials have 80% moisture – which is removed in the 24 hrs bla bla. what we get out is dehydrated biologicas which is a acidic inert materials which will required rehydration and inoculation for composting.
hope i explained!!
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Thanks for taking the trouble to clear our doubts on various issues regarding composting despite the fact that you are too tied up professionally. Appreciate your concern for the environment. Thanks again. 🙂
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you are welcome. nice to see so many followers of this blog. May be we all should meet in Bangalore and try to do something out of the internet!!
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a suggestion is some sort of a mass petition or file a case against these misdirecting companies??
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Yes, this menace definitely needs to be dealt with so that customers are not hoodwinked by their claims. I hope more come out in the open and speak about these fake machines.
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By all means. 🙂
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thanks savita Ji, Let us take this forward as much as possible!!
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I live in Cambridge (UK) and I thank you for these information. Thank you. thank you. next Friday I am going to see an expensive composter machine, but I found the answer in this blog. Thank you my friends.
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Hey that’s an eye opener. Would take it forward from here.
Anurag
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Hi All ! This is a perfect platform to land up at.I am very glad and thankful to Savita ji to pen down the most apt information and truth about the 24 hr Compost Machines.
We are also the manufacturers of Compost Machine and before this we had done a lot of research and implemented our work on the field. Our main research was on the Enzyme that you use to process the waste and turn it into manure. Our process takes upto 8- 10 days. We welcome test results of the manure produced and can also provide field results of the work we have done with the Enzyme not only in making Compost but also work is going on in demolishing massive dump yards and cleaning water bodies from green/grey algae to clear water .And the Enzyme is made in house.
Our machine is a non heater based one and we are also facing it hard in convincing people that Compost can’t be made in 24 hrs as our competitors claim to.
We have just started and if with the help of right people we can reach out to as many people about the right products that we have to offer in the market then we would require every help that we can get.We welcome questions, test results and positive conversation.
Do visit us at http://www.mahabhaga.com
Shruti Sharma
shruti@mahabhaga.com
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Thanks for commenting. I would like to know more about your composting method. Have you installed it anywhere?
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Hi !
Yes we have installed at the International centre of The Art of Living Bangalore and they are successfully running it for the last 1 year.They have a lot of kitchen waste from the canteen of the ashram and so they utilise the compost in their organic farming.They even got the manure tested and acquire the certificate of the same.
Our process takes upto 8-10 days. Each process cycle time is 15 minutes after that the output is stacked in trays and sprinkled with Enzyme everyday which helps convert the waste into Manure.
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I would like to visit the site and understand the process.
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yes that is possible.
This is my personal mail id shruti@mahabhaga.com and we can arrange the visit.
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Can you help me with the update if you had visited the site??
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Of course, I had visited this site.
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And was that machine any different from so called 24 hour machines?
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That WAS a 24-hour machine.
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I visited this site and wrote about this in particular because it was this 24-hour monster.
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Thanks Mam for penning down one such eye-opener!
I have been approached by one such compost machine manufacturer to sell his product and by reading your post I am damn sure that the machine he wants to sell is incinerator and not a compost machine, I was very happy to be a part of swachh bharat abhiyan, doing good for people/society and earning money, the best job with great job satisfaction.
He was explaining me the process and I was liking each part but at last he said that machine will be emitting smoke he covered it up by saying that since machine has activated charcoal the smoke will be less harmful. As I am not at all a technical person I taught that maybe that is the only way that huge institutional waste can be managed, but after coming home I started researching and thankfully I got your very helpful post.
After reading all this it is very clear that there are many companies who are selling incinerator’s in the name of compost machine, for a layman like me it will be very difficult to understand & there will be lot of mis-selling, even if the end user is aware chances are that they will buy incinerator instead of compost machine as it takes less space and I guess it will be cheaper than a compost machine.
I don’t have much knowledge in this issue but I think that government should restrict usage of incinerator’s for wet waste if they have not done it already, as swachh bharat abhiyan is making it mandate for institution to recycle their own waste they should also mandate it in how institutions are going to do it, If there is no rule then to save time space and money many institutions will use incinerator’s and pollute air which will not make bharat swachh at all as it will pollute air.
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Dear Vivek,
Thank you for your comments. I wish all those approached by these fake machine makers would do some homework and do some fact-checking. Unfortunately, all the govt agencies responsible for dealing with such glorified incinerators have just shut their eyes and let everything happen right under their nose. SBA is no exception. In some states, these machines are being endorsed by them to deal with institutional waste. Please create awareness at your end. Hopefully, some day soon, people will realise how gullible they have been.
Good day,
Savita
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Hallo Mam
thanks
just few days ago whirlpool studios add about 24 hours composting at home …how about it ?
one more….. Bioneer of excel group r comes in same ULLUBANAVING category …? pl guide us
thanks .
digambar.
https://www.thebetterindia.com/45798/convert-organic-waste-into-compost-in-just-a-day-bioneer-excel-industries/
https://www.cnet.com/pictures/whirlpools-food-recycler-makes-composting-a-high-tech-venture/3/
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Please help me too…….your article is excellent and i have written letter to the society where i live in ….please read and help….
Dear Sirs,
Its been a long wait requesting your local office staff in this building for closing down the automatic composting machine which you have placed in the covered area of ground floor in parking lot of Tata Capitol Heights Nagpur.
I reside in flat which is just above this filthy set up of yours in flat number 104 – Tower 2.
Sincerely request the Tata Reality board and Tata Sons to help us overcome this venom emitting CO2 fumes and close this piece of filthy machine which emits extremely poisonous CO2 fumes which are largely effecting our family health.
The smell of this is so unbearable and we request your Chairman to come and reside for free in my place to feel the true filth, it stinks like muck and we tend to puke at times at our dining table as there are two exhaust fans located just beneath our bed room and living room windows at the first floor.
This machine of yours also boasts of great noise pollution levels and has obnoxious humming sound and immense vibration which comes all the times as its gets off and automatically.This machine really reduces our night sleep as it runs 24 x 7 hours with 2 minutes intervals and is an irritant that causes hazardous noise pollution in a civic area which you boast of utmost peace and take pride. In night the sound levels are at times deafening.
For your information, the residual which you get is not organic compost but BURNT CARBON WASTE LEFTOVER and emissions are high CO2 emissions which are health hazards in many ways like asthama, cancer and various other diseases.
As you are a big conglomerate and have your in house testing facilities , please get it tested yourself that what is the air quality you provide us to breathe, noise pollution levels you generate in an area where it runs 24×7.
You are playing with my family health which truly hurts me. I have taken up various test and reports at my levels for the past 2 months and would request you to help us in these lines and do an instant relief by shutting this off.
If its not resolved immediately i will take the best possible recourse with department of health and central pollution board bodies.
To top it all my mother of 78 years has moved out of my house because her health was getting affected due to your hazardous fitment..
Will also take social media and would rate strong negative Google reviews on your website and take all the other avenues possible.
Hope you resolve this immediately
Best regards,
Sanjay Singh Parmar
104, Tower 2, Tata Capitol Heights, Nagpur 440003
Cell : 9425306131, 8888898569
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Dear Sanjay,
Extremely disturbing to read this. Can only imagine what you and your family must be going through. I truly hope that the management removes this machine from the vicinity and gives you much-needed relief. Thank you for your comment. I hope people who read your comment will wake up to this tragedy. Let’s please keep in touch through email: http://www.endlesslygreen360@gmail.com.
Best,
Savita
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What a superb learning on 24 hr composting machines and the science behind organic composting the natural way. Thank you so much Ms. Savitha and Dr. Manoj. These 24 hrs composters are indeed incinerators under the guise of composters. though they say it’s mainly for wet waste, it seems a very convenient option to put in mixed waste and then sell it in the name of composting …In our effort to do something good to reduce the carbon footprint by using these composters which are actually incinerators, we are only causing more harm to the environment. Let’s do some good research and then decide on ways to compost…There are OWC which use shredders and a machine which works only for wet waste.. it’s from Vennar. I think it’s not 💯 efficient as almost 20% of the daily wet waste cannot get processed in that machine and we have to leave that bit out for pick up but the compost is good quality and takes around 15-17 days to get ready..
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Hi Ranjani, you judged it right when it comes to dumping all sorts of waste into the machine. No matter what you put, the end products looks all the same. Then why will people care for segregating?
As for OWC, I am not a big fan of it as I found it extremely process-, power-and space-intensive, Unnecessary outgo on the machine as it does nothing but simply mix the waste with sawdust. Two hand can do this job faster and better. I worked with this system for 3-4 months and then got it dismantled and switched over to another simpler method.
Thanks for dropping by. 🙂
-S
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Yes Savita.. fully agree with you. There is a 100% natural composting – which is being offered without any capital investment for the societies. Check out http://www.wecompost.in and any visitors may feel free to take up this service.
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Hi Balaji, looks like this serive is limited to Mumbai and Thane?
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We are starting in Bangalore soon. Feasibility studies going on.
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Savitha – Do I have permission to repost your blog on our website. this will build more awareness .. we of course will provide the original link and also the name as Credits.. do let me know.
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What is your website url?
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http://www.wecompost.in
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Please republish with due credits and a link back to the original post. Thank you.
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Yes. Definitely
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Hello. Do you have any picture of the machine where you get the sample you examined ma’am ? were having research on how to improve that machine to have a good quality fertilizer. thanks a lot 🙂
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Read this to know more about how composting happens. This should give you an idea to come up with a method/machine that can biomimic the natural composting process as much as possible. Good luck.
https://savitahiremath.com/2018/02/20/24-hr-composters-theres-no-microbe-in-this-universe-that-can-colonise-in-24-hrs-says-scientist-dr-manoj/
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Hello. Do you have any picture of the machine where you get the sample you examined ma’am ? were having research on how to improve that machine to have a good quality fertilizer. thanks a lot 🙂
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It doesn’t matter which machine that was as all machines that claim to produce compost in 24/36/72 hours are all the same. I doubt if you can improve the machine unless you change the very mechanism. So long as you use incineration as the ‘process’, nothing much can be improved. That said, let me know which machine you are trying to improve and why. Much thanks.
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Yes. I agree with you. All the machines are operating on the same basic principal of burning / incineration. I studied most of the machines manufactured in India and Singapore. They must change their design concept to achieve this results. There is one machine manufactured in USA is getting good quality of water out of food waste. I will get you more details on it.
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Hi Viren, is this USA machine a dewatering machine?
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Hi Savita,
Thanks for sharing your views on the 24 hours composting machine.
There are many 24 hours composting units in Japan, US , Uk and SEA. Basically they call these machines as dehydrating machine . None of them call this as OWC. Only in India they give these fancy captions of 24 hours composting machine. After dewatering these are suitably disposed off. The idea is to reduce the frequency of disposal as the volume reduction happens. The 80% moisture in the food waste is removed in this process.
We have executed in vessel composting projects in Japan and China. A reasonable compost will be produced in a month.
There are other technologies like food waste to grey water developed in Japan. They primarily liquify the food waste and discharge to the sewers. This approach might be useful in hotels and apartment complexes where the liquified water could be send to the Sewage treatment plant. Also they are used as nutrients for microbes in sewage.
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we want to improve the machine that producing burnt carbon instead of compost by controlling the temperature, humidity and aeration process. with right set-point of this different variables we can achieve a good quality compost. we will make a good control system and modify the existing designs. we want this topic to help agriculture in our country and the lives of farmers.
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we neglect the 24 hours process. we expect that compost process can be done in less than a month because of good control system we are trying to apply.
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Thank you very much for this eye opening review.
I was about to order one of composting machine of 41000 bucks and after reading this review I have cancelled order.
Instead of composting machine, I have decided to use compost bin and compact biodigester system.
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Thanks for the comment, Bharat. Worth all the efforts that went into writing this review. 🙂 Good day.
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Hi mam, i’m unsure why my compost dint get ready. All i’m left with is the wooddust! that i fed into the khamba to keep the wet waste dry. Looks like the compost dint happen at all. Also pls could u kindly suggest if the positioning of my khamba’s is ok by seeing the pictures i took while filtering the compost? I can send u the photos and info on to ur email id for your quick reference and understanding. Pls let me know. Thank you!
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Please email the pictures to endlesslygreen360@gmail.com. Thanks.
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We the Nachiket, Pune have machines that produces compost with aeration method within 10-12 days. We never promote 24hrs machine as they won’t produce compost. We always collect samples from each newly installed machine & test it in labs for it’s quality.
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I was about to start marketing of 24 hrs machines. However, I came across certain standards followed strictly by other countries for compost. In India even there are guidelines I see many govt. Department buying 24 hrs machines which is against govt stand. One manufacturer written on brochure saying state pollution control board approved machine, which is totally misleading.
CPCB don’t give Environment Clearance for these machines, then selling these machines shall be considered as crime.
If nobody in govt is raising question on buying this 24 hrs composting machine, there could be something wrong.
Also, builder lobby is getting targeted by these suppliers to sell machines for bigger projects, to get benefit in taxes. Why govt gives tax benefits for machine which is degrading soil.
As these machines produce material which is toxic to mother nature and Indian soil is getting deteriorated, why activists work properly to ban these suppliers.
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bravo. Abhijit ji. it take tremendous courage and will to outplay our money making instincts which generally overpower empathy. way to lead the society. thanks
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