Millions of people across the country are getting used to the idea of separating and storing food waste as a result of changes to council household collections.
If you’d prefer to be more proactive and deal with your food waste in-house, so to speak, the new range of electric kitchen composters may be just what you’re looking for. They’re designed to quickly reduce food waste to a fraction of its original volume for use in the garden.
Some of these gadgets dry and reduce food waste to make it easier to manage. The Reencle composter is different in that it combines fast-drying techniques with micro-biological composting technology to produce a soil improver.
Putting the Reencle to the test
To see how well the Reencle works we conducted a 25-day trial from set-up to removal of the first compost.
· We loaded the Reencle with 6.5 kg of food waste in 14 separate loadings, taking care not to exceed the advised optimal 700g per day guide. The absolute maximum loading is 1kg per day.
· The food waste used was mainly vegetable peelings. Additionally, on several occasions we scraped leftovers at the end of a meal - these generally included meat and fish skins.
Above: food waste added to the Reencle.
Below: the contents after 24 hours.
On Day 25 we removed the contents of the Reencle to the minimum fill line in accordance with instructions. We removed 230g of compostable material which was dry, flaky, odourless and bran-like in appearance and texture.
· The Reencle had reduced the food waste processed by over 95%.
· This material was mixed on a 4:1 ratio with soil in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. After 14 days it presented as an odourless, soil-like substance and was dug into tubs as a plant nutrient.
Above: the contents mixed with soil.
Below: adding the Reencle compost to soil in the garden.
Our verdict:
· On the whole we found the Reencle incredibly easy to use. Using the excellent manual provided we set it up for use within 30 minutes of opening the packaging. Once set up it really was simply a case of opening the Reencle using the easily accessible open button or foot-operated sensor (if situated on the floor) and placing the food waste in the Reencle.
· No ongoing attention is required.
No issues with noise or odours.
· Particularly good for leftovers - simply scrape the plate and forget.
· The outputs were clean, dry and odour-free.
Simply empty the Reencle to its minimum fill line every time its contents exceed this level (taking care to leave working for 48 hours without further inputs to allow the composting cycle to complete).
· Easy to use as a soil supplement, even in potted plants in apartments.
The final product could also be put into the Green Johanna, Green Cone or other garden composters for further composting.
Good to know:
· Care needs to be taken with the capacity, although 700g/day equates to around 2-3 litres of food waste and therefore in line with the 23 litres of weekly food waste collection provided by most UK local authorities. On days where a lot of food waste is created it would be a good idea to have a small food waste caddy or container to hand to store for processing the next day.
· Although the Reencle dealt very well with all food waste types, lemon and onion peeling took longer to break down. It’s a good idea to cut these up into small pieces to speed up composting.
