According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, only about 5% of the annual 66.2 million tons of food waste is composted, which leads to landfill overfilling and emissions of methane.
The rising environmental needs for composting and new legislations in separating organic waste for households create a new market for solutions and home appliances. This market for various devices for composting or preparing food scraps to compost-like material is already overcrowded by different technologies. Here also comes electric composters, which have become a separate category, and are being introduced by more and more brands these days.
They claim to conveniently convert organic household waste into plant food or soil amendments without unpleasant odors or pests. But do they really make compost that can enrich the soil and introduce a genuine solution, or is it a misleading trend? This is a point that has been questioned by many environmental experts and gardeners.
Let’s look at the facts!
How electric composters work
The features of electrical composters may vary from the producer, but the general logic of their work stays the same. Basically, all of them use heat, grinding, and aeration technologies inside the devices to dehydrate and grind up organic waste.
They get rid of bacteria and pathogens while heating your organics to a high temperature, depending on the model, to about 160°F or over 212°F. During the heating process, the device starts to grind your food scraps into small pieces into dry brown powder or chunky and fibrous material, depending on what waste you have. The rotation of the material and charcoal filter simulates compost aeration and helps to prevent odors.
This process takes a few hours and reduces the volume of your organic waste to 70-90%. That sounds perfect for keeping your kitchen odor-free and pest-free, but suspicious about fully dehydrated and ground material being used as a compost that usually needs microbial decomposition and compost bacteria for benefiting the soil.
The Composting Misconception
Despite marketing claims, the material that is the final product of electric composters’ work is not one that can be called compost and doesn’t have the same ‘composting magic’ features to help plants grow better and contribute to soil health. Even naming it differently can’t guarantee good output for the soil, as it’s declared by electric composters’ brands.
“Right from the moment that I saw the first unit, I questioned the 'composting' aspect. How can they compost so quickly when composting is a very slow process?” – said Robert Pavlis, an educator, gardener, blogger, writer and chemist, in an interview with GardenMyths.com.
As stated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the output from these devices is more accurately described as "dehydrated food waste byproduct" rather than compost. This material is not biologically stable and often requires further decomposition before it can be safely and effectively used in soil. Applying it directly to plants may not grant the intended benefits to soil health and could potentially harm plant health due to incomplete decomposition and possible high salt content.
Some of the tests of environmentalists challenge the statements of electric composter producers, showing that the final material could be detrimental to plant growth and does not eliminate the odor of food scraps, which can attract pests.
As outlined by horticulturist Ron Alexander, it’s not only the missing bacteria that may be problematic, as the freshly ground material can contain concentrated levels of certain nutrients and salts that, when added to garden beds, create an imbalance in the soil's nutrient profile. It may also heat up during the decomposition process, harming plant growth. In addition, the organic waste could become moldy or attract pests if immediately used in the garden.
In cities where composting options are limited, such devices provide a practical way to separate food scraps. But since they don’t make a real compost, meaningful progress in reducing food trash and proper composting requires a professional approach and participation of municipal systems.
Professional composting: a sustainable alternative
Unlike electric devices that grind and dry organic waste without microbial action, professional composting systems rely on natural decomposition to produce true compost.Professional composting, as understood by the US Composting Council, involves large-scale, controlled composting processes that handles significant volumes of organic waste and ensures rapid decomposition under managed conditions.
What are these conditions, and why can they process organic waste more efficiently than home setups?
The professional composting process entails the following steps:
- aerobic decomposition with oxygen;
- strictly controlled temperature, humidity, and airflow levels conditions;
- the use of microorganisms and sometimes mechanical turning or forced aeration to speed up the composting process.
One of the main differences between professional and home composting is time. A professional composting service will create the ideal conditions for the breakdown of organic waste into efficient compost, supporting soil health.
Another key difference is in the variety of waste that can be composted. Professional composters can handle a much wider range of organics, including things like bioplastics and bones, that can’t be processed in domestic outdoor or indoor compost bins.
Alternatives as part of the solution
For those seeking to make a meaningful contribution to sustainability, engaging with professional composting services or traditional composting methods is advisable.
By supporting systems that produce genuine compost, individuals can enhance soil health, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and participate in a more sustainable waste management cycle. At the same time, there are other solutions for those households for whom doing a traditional compost is not an option and coping with flies, leaks, and odors is a mission.
At Clear Drop, we investigated the current issues with organic household waste management and solutions with their benefits and drawbacks to introduce our own technology. We created a kitchen appliance that solves the challenge of convenient household organic waste management without full dehydration.
Suppression of your organic waste is carried out using a combination of 3 technologies: dry without heating, aeration, and ozone treatment.
Drying reduces the moisture content of your food scraps and other organic waste by only 30-40%, which is enough to stop the development of microorganisms and mold, but also still preserves the essential organic matter, allowing it to be effectively composted in industrial facilities or in your own or community pit.
Aeration is the process of saturating the waste mass with air.
Ozonation - regular treatment of the contents of the container with limited and safe doses of ozone. Additional protection for the consumer from unpleasant odors is carbon-filter adsorption.
With its help, all air coming out of the device is filtered and cleaned.
While electric composters offer convenience, they fall short of delivering true compost or contributing meaningfully to soil health. Real sustainability lies in supporting systems that return nutrients to the earth through natural decomposition. Whether by engaging with municipal composting services or exploring home methods rooted in biology, the smarter path is one that nurtures soil, not just simplifies disposal. In tackling organic waste, we need solutions that close the loop - not just reduce volume.
