Foodcycler pilot approved for 100 South Dundas households

By Phillip Blancher, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Foodcycler pilot approved for 100 South Dundas households

MORRISBURG, Ontario – Dubbed the “Instapot” of composting, South Dundas is joining a new electric home composting pilot project.

South Dundas council approved joining Food Cycle Science’s Foodcycler pilot project.

The Foodcycler is a household organic waste indoor composting machine no larger than a breadmaking machine. The unit dries and grinds food waste into a “dry, odorless, nutrient dense by-product” which is lighter and smaller than the food scraps that go into the machine.

The company listed many items that can go into the machine including fruit and vegetable scraps, cereal, cheese, eggs, coffee grounds, meat, fish, chicken and fish bones, and many more items. The end product can go into your garden, no different than what would come from a backyard compost.

Representatives from Food Cycle Science presented the pilot at the September 27 meeting, as an alternative to organic waste going to landfills.

Already municipalities including South Glengarry, Trent Lakes, and the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne, have signed on to the pilot.

The project will see South Dundas purchase 100 units and offer to the public for sale at a subsidized rate. For 12 weeks, those taking part in the project will record their results for use as the company is competing in the Government of Canada’s Food Waste Reduction Challenge.

The pilot project will cost $27,500 plus HST, and be funded through the savings Environmental Services budget and use of the remaining service delivery funds.

Deputy mayor Kirsten Gardner said she supported the project as people have been looking for a long time for an uncomplicated solution to dealing with kitchen waste.

“I fully support this,” she told council. “I think that in the future when we talk about tipping fees and how we deal with garbage, I think we need to get as much [organic material] out of what is left at the curb.”

Mayor Steven Byvelds agreed saying the pilot was worthwhile to sign on to.

“We have the money to do this project and I believe there will be some uptake,” he said of interest in the community.

In supporting the pilot project, council directed CAO Shannon Geraghty to roll out the pilot project, including the sign up process. Those details will be released by the municipality soon, with the goal of launching the pilot project by January 1, 2022, or sooner.

This article was originally written for and appeared in The Morrisburg Leader.

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