WelcomPost

With an increasingly large disconnect between urban households and where their food comes from, WelcomPost aims to restore the relationship between the two with a communal compost system which repurposes the nutrients of the food that has gone into its production. The food and agriculture organisationrefers to food waste as items that are fit for human consumption, but often are thrown away in supermarkets or by consumers themselves.

 The best alternative to deal with food waste during the moment of consumption at a household level is to compost it at home, this will avoid sending food waste to landfills and reduce methane emissions. Additionally, composting food waste results in the recovery of nutrients that have gone into its production. EU Fusions states that in Spain, households on average waste 18 percent of their food, which is equivalent to 2.9 million tonnes of food every year. At a small scale level, there are companies who design indoor compost bin systems for individuals, however it is tedious to maintain and requires space. On a larger scale, there is the City Council of Madrid system, which collects citizens’ organic waste. 

These two options are polar opposites. WelcomPost bridges the gap by bringing the convenience and personal aspect of the two.WelcomPost takes on designing a system implemented in apartments in which the residents will dispose of their food waste into the PostUnit communal compost bins. It reduces energy and cost from compost facilities.The PostUnit (communal vermicompost bin) is installed in the building’s common area located in the building and the PostCaddy (kitchen caddy) is distributed to the residents in the building. 

The worms will eat and processthe food scraps that are disposed of to create enriched soil and compost tea. The PostUnit has implemented two sensors that track real-time data of the capacity in the food scraps and compost compartment. This way we areable to manage each of the PostUnits to know which ones need maintenance and map out efficient routes. This way food waste will go to the production of both biogas and compost for your plants. WelcomPost is a system that can be implemented across many cities worldwide and will offer positive environmental benefits in the long term.