The decision to include the composter was designer Phil Sherburne’s, who opted to add the Earth Tub system to the new Bardessono hotel, spa and restaurant.
The tub is an enclosed food waste composter powered by an auger motor and aerobically filtered by a bio-filtrating air purification system. The bio-filtrating air purification system helps to reduce unfavorable odors.
The tub will allow general waste such as food scraps generated in the hotel’s kitchen or guests to be transformed into fertilizer. Furthermore, organic materials such as yard waste and manure can also be loaded into the tub through a hatchway in the cover.
The composter, which has a length of 68 inches, a diameter of 90 inches weighs 450 pounds, will be located away from guest view.
It is claimed that The company claims that the tub will generate more than 100C of temperature, meaning waste will break down rapidly and be reduced by 70% or more. Any liquid by-product would also be gathered and filtered into a sanitary holding tank.
Occasionally, dry materials like wood chips, shredded paper or shavings can also be added to the tub to ensure that porosity and moisture levels remain suitable for composting. The tub requires two rotations of the cover in order to mix the outside and center of the product.
The auger motor can shred and mix around a ton or more of compost in 10-15 minutes. During active composting, the tub should be mixed a minimum of two times per week.
The tub can process up to 500 pounds of biomass every day breaking it down to 150 pounds of compost. If required, capacity of the tub can be increased as a result of its modular design.
