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While from next January 1st, all French people will have to have a compost bin, an experiment carried out in an American city in the State of Washington proposes to go even further in the recovery of food waste. The initiative consists of using a smart bin to turn them into food for chicken farmers.
Corn, wheat, soy, but also… food waste! The diet of chicken farms is so varied that our table scraps can also be part of their menu. But it is still necessary that the peelings of fruits and vegetables and other leftover pasta are suitably transformed into a dehydrated powder capable of nourishing them with care.
Recover your waste with a high-tech bin
In the United States, the start-up Mills has just imagined a trash can that automatically dries everything you throw away without the user even having to do anything. Operation is no louder than a dishwasher. Specifically studied so that there is no odor which escapes from it, one can add the remainders of meal during many days since the contents are reduced to powder. There is thus never any need to empty it! The objective is to pour the contents into a prepaid box for chicken farmers who have agreed to work alongside the American start-up.
The device is used in the same way as a compost bin, except that it is connected to an app via wifi. It allows users to notify the start-up Mills of the availability of a full box, but also to have knowledge of the amount of food waste generated by a family. Its use works on the principle of a subscription in the amount of 33 dollars per month, or about 30 euros.
The Municipality of Tacoma is committed even further
This approach, which encourages consumers to become more involved in the recovery of their household waste, will take on greater scope with the implementation of a pilot program in the city of Tacoma, in the State of Washington. For the very first time in the United States, a municipality has partnered with the start-up to integrate this initiative into its operations.
Tacoma hopes to be able to collect data about the food waste generated by its inhabitants in order to reduce it. Participants who manage to reduce the amount of rubbish they produce will thus pay less for their subscription to Mills.
This partnership is just another step for the city of Tacoma, which has made household waste reduction its priority. According to the American press, the municipality has been working on this subject since 2012, managing to recycle up to 1,000 tonnes of rubbish per year.