C-LOOP is a community-based food waste recycling and composting system, including composting machines, biodegradable garbage bags with QR Code, and an application designed for community residents. C-LOOP encourages community residents to actively participate in kitchen waste recycling through a reward mechanism. The recycled kitchen waste is then converted into fertilizer for cultivating fruits and vegetables, which are subsequently sold to community residents, creating a perfect ecological cycle. Our goal is to promote broader participation in food waste recycling through a more environmentally friendly method of composting, solving the many problems currently faced by food waste recycling and contributing to the development of sustainable communities and cities.

PROBLEM ANALASIS

1. The food waste piled up in the community emits a strong odor.

Food waste is rich in perishable organic matter, which will ferment rapidly at the right temperature to produce hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, methane and other gases with an irritating odor, which in turn creates a foul odor.

2. The existing methods of handling food waste cause significant environmental pollutionFAO statistics show that 1/3 of global food, or 1.3 billion tons, is wasted yearly in production, distribution, and consumption.China tops the world in food waste production.According to research, in recent years, the amount of food waste generated in China has been increasing annually, accounting for about half of the urban domestic waste in the country. Statistical data shows that only 18.25% of food waste has been processed. Among these, harmless treatment methods such as composting account for only 3.0%. More mainstream methods like incineration and landfill still pose environmental pollution issues. Composting can achieve harmless treatment and recycling of food waste.

3. The existing composting products cannot meet the demand

3.1 According to research, the existing composting products for kitchen waste on the market are mostly small-scale household composting products. These products are incapable of processing large amounts of accumulated kitchen waste on a large scale, and they require a longer time for a single processing session. They are unable to handle hard kitchen waste such as large bones, nor can they process kitchen waste with a high liquid content. They also cause concerns for users regarding electricity use and noise due to household use.

3.2 The existing large-scale kitchen waste composting machines are bulky and not user-friendly, creating a psychological distance between operators and the equipment. They involve high transportation costs, have high production costs, occupy a significant amount of space, and fail to motivate user participation in composting.

DESIGN PROCESS

Through investigation and field visits, we found that although most residents have the awareness of garbage classification, they are not very active in it. They said that if there is a reward mechanism, they will be more willing to participate in the sorting of kitchen waste. And they think that if the garbage they put in can be indirectly turned into rewards, they will have a greater sense of accomplishment. In addition, residents near the waste treatment plant said that they were greatly affected by the odor of garbage, and even interfered with normal life.

SYSTEM CONCEPT

Based on the research above and interview results, we designed our system. C-Loop is a community-based food waste recycling and composting system. Community residents can exchange points obtained from food waste recycling for biodegradable garbage bags and enjoy discounts on purchasing organic fruits and vegetables, increasing users' willingness to participate through incentive mechanisms; The kitchen waste will be processed into odorless pre-compost instantly in our machine, aiming to solve the odor problem. And the pre-compost will be collected by regions, transported to fertilizer processing plants to produce organic fertilizer. Organic farms can purchase our fertilizer, and the organic fruits and vegetables grown in the farm can be sold to users through cooperative sales.

The transformation process of food waste -- organic fertilizer -- organic vegetables and fruits -- food waste, realizes the recycling and reuse of kitchen garbage, and realizes a logical closed loop system.

PRODUCT INTRODUCTION

The entire system includes composting machines, biodegradable garbage bags with QR Code, and an application designed for community residents.

C-LOOP composting machine:

1.Kitchen waste is stirred and squeezed dry inside the composting machine, then conveyed to the fermentation tank where it is processed into dry, odorless pre-compost.

2.Two activated carbon air filters can filter out unpleasant odors during the kitchen waste processing process. Clean, deodorized smells are released back into the community environment.3.Equipped with solar panels on the top, the entire waste processing process is carbon-neutral by utilizing renewable energy sources.

Biodegradable Garbage Bag with QR Code:

The garbage bags we provide can be completely degraded, so they can be thrown into our machine at the same time as the kitchen waste and used as raw materials for compost. Users can exchange points for biodegradable garbage bags that are suitable for the composting process.

Application Design:

The product is equipped with a screen and mobile app. On the mobile app, users can use points to purchase organic vegetables and fruits produced by cooperative farms at the online store.The screen interface provides prompts for garbage disposal and allows on-the-spot redemption of points for garbage bags.

What is the pre-compost?

It is dry and odorless organic compound that the machine creates with food waste. It is less than 20% the volume of the original food waste, which greatly saves transportation costs. It is rich in nutrients needed by plants, so it can be used as a raw material for organic fertilizer. After extrusion, the pre-compost has no odor and can be stored for a long time.

IMPACT

We hope to incentivize more people to participate in food waste recycling and promote greener and more environmentally friendly handling of food waste through composting, thus contributing to the sustainable development of communities and cities.