Here’s how it works
Using the iCompost is a cinch: you’ll receive a card with a QR code that takes you straight to the manual.
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The iCompost has a 2-litre aluminium bucket with a nonstick finish that you fill with kitchen waste until it reaches the maximum level – but it’s recommended that you don’t keep the waste in it for more than a week. The bucket is dishwasher-safe. We had a pile of potato and butternut peels, so we made three buckets of compost one after the other. If the appliance is plugged in while you’re still busy filling the bucket, it will go into “Storage” mode. In this mode, the UV light stays on, sterilising the waste, and at intervals it will turn slowly to mix the waste, and the fan will activate to prevent smells. 2 3
Next, you sprinkle four tablespoons (60 ml) compost activator on top – this plant-based activator speeds up the composting process and absorbs odours. 4
Then you close the lid, press the “Power” button for a couple of seconds, and 5–6 hours later you take out two cupfuls of compost! 5
The composting process takes place in four stages:
• While the “Power” and “Dry” indicators are illuminated, a heating plate warms the waste bucket and the blades turn it occasionally. The appliance runs surprisingly smoothly, but in this and the next cycle you can hear the blades turning and, sometimes, the sound of food breaking. Moist air is emitted through the air filter on the side. The smell is odd but not overpowering – for example, we could tell when there were more coffee grounds, citrus peel and onions in the mix. (This phase took 2½ hours in our case.)
• Next, the “Dry” and “Grind” indicators are illuminated. The drying process continues, but the blades now grind the waste finer at “full speed”. This phase can take 1½ hours.
• When the drying and grinding work is finished, the “Cooling” and “UV-C” indicators are illuminated while the compost is being cooled and sterilised. Our compost was ready after 5½ hours.
• The machine beeps three times when the cycle is completed and the lights go off. After 30 minutes, the machine automatically switches to “Storage” mode with the “Power” and “UV-C” indicators on.
It is a sleek appliance, 37,5 cm high x 28 cm deep, and it just has to be placed on a flat, stable surface in a well-ventilated area.
Impressive!
We were very impressed with the iCompost and the lovely, fine early-stage compost it produced in a matter of hours. After using it a number of times, its size is the only drawback, in our view: we’d prefer a bucket five times the size of the 2-litre one. We didn’t check how much electricity it consumed per cycle. The Compost Kitchen conducted a carbon footprint analysis that found the iCompost will use an average of 0,7 kWh in a full cycle to process 1 kg of food waste – just as much as making toast. In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, it is 30% better to use electricity to compost 1 kg of food waste in the iCompost than to let it end up in a landfill.
Nevertheless, this remains the biggest “problem” with the iCompost: It works with electricity… and we have Eskom. If the electricity supply is interrupted in the middle of a cycle, the cycle has to start from the beginning. (This happened to us – fortunately the second cycle was much shorter because the contents were already drier.)
Something else to keep in mind is that you would need to top up your supply of compost activator (R60 per bag, which should last for 35 cycles), and make sure you have an extra carbon air filter (R100) for when the odour starts to get stronger (usually after three months).
The iCompost is a luxury appliance – we see it now sells for R6 500 via the website and at Makro. On top of all the other composting systems we have on the go at home, this is something we will use every day – the open bucket and the midges are gone from the kitchen.
Contact icompost.co.za The Compost Kitchen