SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLY GENERATING ORGANIC COMPOST FROM WASTE

1 . A method of producing compost, wherein the method comprises:

receiving waste in a composting apparatus, the waste having a first moisture content;

pre-treating the waste to produce pre-treated waste;

storing the pre-treated waste into a storage chamber for a pretreatment time period to produce stored waste; and

composting the stored waste in a compost chamber to produce a batch of output compost having a second moisture content, wherein the second moisture content is less than the first moisture content.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the stored waste is composted to produce intermediate compost and the intermediate compost is gathered to produce the batch of output compost.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the pre-treating step comprises:

separating the waste into solid waste and liquid waste;

reducing a volume of the solid waste; and

drying the reduced volume of solid waste.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein reducing the volume of solid waste comprises: crushing, milling, grinding, or mulching the volume of solid waste to reduce individual particle size in the volume of solid waste.

5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein drying the volume of solid waste comprises heating and/or aerating the volume of solid waste to reduce moisture content.

6 . The method of claim 2 , wherein liquid waste is obtained by mechanically removing liquid from the waste via pressing, tumbling, or centrifugation.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the waste is done multiple times before the output compost is generated.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein pre-treating the amount of waste is performed once during the pretreatment time period.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein composting the stored waste comprises using naturally occurring microbes and/or introducing microbes into the compost chamber and producing one or more conditions to increase an activity of the microbes for performing an aerobic decomposition process on the waste within the compost chamber.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the step of producing the one or more conditions within the compost chamber comprises:

(a) flowing air through the waste in the compost chamber to provide a desired amount of oxygen to the microbes to undergo an aerobic decomposition process;

(b) maintaining a desired moisture content level by spraying, misting liquid into the compost chamber, or adding a portioned amount of input of waste with a first moisture content into the compost chamber;

(c) maintaining a desired temperature in the compost chamber;

(d) adding additional microbes in powder, capsule or liquid form;

or any operable combination of (a) to (d),

wherein the desired amount of oxygen and the desired moisture content are determined through experimentation.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises: maintaining an airflow through the waste in the compost chamber and using a mixer to mix the waste in the compost chamber.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of post-treating the output compost by maintaining the output compost in a chamber that is temperature and humidity controlled and has an airflow, where the temperature in the chamber is above room temperature.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the method comprises removing the compost chamber for retrieving the output compost and reinserting the compost chamber for performing subsequent composting.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the method comprises outputting, from the compost chamber, the output compost into a storage or transport chamber.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the method comprises providing a positive airflow through the waste in the compost chamber for preventing odors from escaping outside of the composting apparatus.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the method comprises providing airflow to prevent anaerobic fermentation thus odor production.

17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the method comprises providing an inner filtration for odor destruction.

18 . A composting apparatus comprising:

a main device body;

control and power electronics including a processor and memory;

a compost chamber cavity located within the main device body; and

a compost chamber for performing composting of waste, the compost chamber being located in the compost chamber cavity,

wherein the processor is configured to perform the method of claim 1 when software instructions stored in the memory are executed by the processor.

19 . The composting apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the composting apparatus further comprises: a pre-treatment tank that includes at least one fan, at least one mixer, optionally at least one condenser, and optionally at least one heater.

20 . The composting apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the heater and/or motor is integrated inside the compost chamber.

21 . The composting apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the compost chamber further comprises at least one mixer.

22 . The composting apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the at least one mixer is a ribbon impeller comprising a first helical fin configuration and a second helical fin configuration;

wherein the first and second helical fin configurations are at opposing angular directions and;

wherein the first and second helical fin configurations are mirror images with respect to a central slicing plane.

23 . The composting apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the first and second helical fins comprise continuous helices.

24 . The composting apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the first and second helical fins comprise discrete segments of helices.

25 . The composting apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the impeller is configured operate by rotating the first and second helical fin configurations in opposite direction to produce a homogenous mixture of solid compost particles with a range of particle sizes between about 0.5 mm to about 20 mm.

26 . The composting apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the composting apparatus comprises:

a plurality of adaptors disposed at one end of the compost chamber cavity; and

the compost chamber comprises a plurality of couplers for releasably inserting the compost chamber in the compost chamber cavity by releasably coupling the plurality of couplers with the plurality of adaptors.

27 . The composting apparatus of claim 26 , wherein the plurality of couplers include mechanical couplers.

28 . The composting apparatus of claim 27 , wherein the plurality of couplers further includes fluidic couplers, and/or electronic couplers.

29 . The composting apparatus of claim 18 , further comprising at least one sensor coupled to the compost chamber for obtaining sensor data for one more parameters inside the compost chamber, the at least one sensor being communicatively coupled to the processor.

30 . The composting apparatus of claim 29 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises a temperature sensor, a moisture sensor, a relative humidity sensor, a gas sensor, a level sensor, a proximity sensor, a weight sensor, an image sensor or any operable combination thereof.

31 . The composting apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the composting apparatus is further configured to provide a positive airflow through the waste in the compost chamber for preventing odors from escaping outside of the composting apparatus.

32 . A system for composting food waste, wherein the system comprises:

a composting apparatus that is defined according to claim 18 ,

wherein existing external fluidic couplers and/or external electrical connectors in a food-preparation environment, a juice shop, or a coffee shop are connected to the composting apparatus.