Japanese composting may be new food waste solution

Lifestyle Jun. 23, 2012 - 06:24AM JST ( 8 )

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8 Comments

-1

as_the_crow_fliesJun. 23, 2012 - 09:51AM JST

Interesting. Also curious that I don't think I've ever heard any reference to this here. I think Japan mostly burns food waste, doesn't it? I'm pretty sure that's what happens here in Kanagawa, anyway. This should be really widespread, specially as places like Yokohama want to lay claim to being pioneers in reducing waste. I'm woken twice a week by a jingle about how Yokohama is reducing its waste by 30%. Most of what I put out as "nama" gomi now could be composted. The rest is separated, and I hope it's recycled. But a low-pong method that can be done in containers sounds perfect for cities and neighbourhoods, and would save shifting the stuff around. We could use it to green cities, cut down heat absorption on rooftops by planting on them, ....
0

StonecoldsobaJun. 23, 2012 - 10:03AM JST

The solution is not to compost (or burn) the waste but to reduce the wastage!
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VicMOsakaJun. 23, 2012 - 11:38AM JST

National made home composting units years ago. Great product but they were just too expensive for most people to invest in. However, they were more advanced compared to anything else available as they worked automatically with a built in mixer powered from a normal 100v power scource. Every Japanese home should have one but price needs to come down.
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presto345Jun. 23, 2012 - 10:26PM JST

ＥＭ１has been around for a long time. I remember going on an EM tour in Japan about 20 years ago. The process was pioneered by an Okinawan University professor. EM1 and an upgrade EMX are used in alternative medicine as well to treat a host of diseases, like skin afflictions and cancers.
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presto345Jun. 23, 2012 - 10:36PM JST

National made home composting units years ago. Great product but they were just too expensive for most people to invest in. However, they were more advanced compared to anything else available as they worked automatically with a built in mixer powered from a normal 100v power scource. Every Japanese home should have one but price needs to come down.

There are composters and there are dehydraters. Not every home needs one. If you live in the country or have even a small garden you can dispose of raw garbage by burying it directly in the soil. Your plants and the environment will thank you for it.
0

Al StewartJun. 24, 2012 - 11:41AM JST

Yeah composting is old news. A friend of mind has been doing it for years for their garden. Now the micro organism for the smell thats news to me.

But yeah this should be spread all over the world.
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johninnahaJun. 24, 2012 - 08:51PM JST

This is an excellent move!
-3

wipeoutJun. 26, 2012 - 08:52PM JST

The solution is not to compost (or burn) the waste but to reduce the wastage!

While that sounds good, some waste is inevitable. With composting, you can dispose of almost anything organic: chicken bones, fish bones, fish guts, shrimp shells, eggshells, corn husks, vegetable peelings, rotten food, autumn leaves - all stuff that saves you putting it into municipal garbage bags and having it carted off to be burned. You get less trash to put out, and it no longer consists of stinking bags with a pool of christ-knows-what in the bottom. It's dry waste.

EM bokashi is another solution, one that even permits indoor composting if you use the special containers. It's not odour-free as it happens, but the smell produced is of fermentation instead of putrefaction (to put that to the test, throw in some seafood or fish waste). Also while the container is closed, there is no smell, so it can be kept in a kitchen.

The main problem is that bokashi is expensive to buy - a 2 kg bag is 400 or 500 yen. There isn't such a strong reason to do it for anyone who has the space to keep a compost bin in the garden. You can carry on filling a compost bin for months, because the waste keeps breaking down as you go. Bokashi containers need regular emptying and you have to keep buying replacement bags of the catalyst.