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Domestic Food Recycling - Loop Loop was my major final year project at Coventry University - A solution to reduce the amount of food we waste in the UK, inspired by the Circular Economy - pioneered by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
Loop Domestic Food Recycling The Idea of Loop is to enable the user to recycle food. My aim was to apply the principles of The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Circular Economy, traditionally attributed to plastic waste to the issue of food waste in the UK. Loop is a closed loop domestic food recycling system, which through the reclamation of nutrients from waste food allows the user to grow new food, which reduces the amount of food the user is required to purchase and can help to reduce the amount of food otherwise wasted through education to the value that food has. This document is a summary of my final year MDes project and follows the project from conception to completion - which took place during the 7 month window of the academic year. There’s plenty I’d do going forward, and a few things I’d tweak in hindsight, so if you have any questions or suggestions then lets talk!
1// Research
2// Ideation
3// How it Works
4// Nursery
// Subcontents
Loop is a big project, it’s a system primarily and that means there’s a family of products each requiring their own research and ideation, it’s tricky to slim down any more than I have already without losing any substance. People often suggest that a portfolio should only be a few pages per project but with the nature of this one that’s not really possible. This contents should help to break down the project into more managable bites.
5// Composter
6// Cultivator
7// Shelves
8//BOM
//Research // Problem definition
Breakdown of UK Food Waste.
My first term was dedicated to creating a research document - on these pages I have skimmed down my work to some key facts.
Household 7.3Mt
// User Factors ? ??
Manufacture 1.7Mt Retail 0.2Mt Hospitality 0.9Mt Other 0.14Mt
Consumers have low awareness of how much food they’re wasting.
Consumers have poor awareness of what products they own.
Consumers prefer to have too much than too little and often over buy.
// Symptoms and Effects If food waste was a country it would be the 3rd largest producer of Greenhouse Gasses.
25x
Globally 23% of all water used annually is for producing food that is not eaten.
Young Professionals were Young Families were identified as a Key identified as a Key User Group as their impulsive User group, commonly eating and buying habits wasting food due to a hypersensitivity to use by leads to waste. dates.
The UK wastes 7.3MT of annually. 4.4MT Avoidable 1.3MT Possibly Avoidable 1.6MT Unavoidable
The Average Household wastes £470 per year on uneaten food. Families of 4 can waste up to £600.
Food that gets sent to landfill decays and creates Methane, a greenhouse gas 25x stronger than CO2.
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//Personas
The Williams Family // Young Family
James & Carly // Young Professionals
. 25 & 23 . Powertrain Engineer & Account Manager. . Value Freedom and Flexibility. . Impulsive Lifestyle
James and Carly are a young couple who’ve recently acquired a mortgage and moved in together. They love the new found freedom and spontaneity of their new lifestyle. They rarely plan their meals or shops and buy purely on impulse. Often leftovers go to waste as they’re ignored in place of a takeaway or convenience food. Whilst both agree it is bad to waste food they’re not willing to make major or time consuming changes to the lifestyle they love and desire products which reduce waste without inhibiting their freedom.
// Young Professionals Key Needs
. On Demand Food . Low Skill/Effort Requirement . Low Maintenance
// Young Families Key Needs
. Child safe in operation and misuse. . Reliable food source. . Engaging and educational
. 33 & 31 // 4 & 1 . Teacher & Local Newspaper Editor . Children are Priority . Busy & Organised Lifestyle.
Sue and Steve Williams are parents to two young children, Daisy and Daniel. Their time is precious and dictated by the activities their children undertake. The family plan shopping and meals a week in advance & would much rather have too much than too little so often over buy on key items. Completely unwilling to risk the health of themselves or their children Sue and Steve never use ingredients that have passed their use by date, even if they look and smell fine.
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//Aesthetic Mood Board
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//Visual, Use and Semantic Key Words Tranquil
Fulfilling | Blissful | Consistent | Reliable
Honest
Un-Processed | Clear | Clean | Understated
Natural
Growth | Easy | Healthy | Ethical
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//CMF
// Colour
For the product colour I proposed white for the plastic components and a light wood to contrast these. A green element would compliment to natural brown and contrast the white.
// Material
Due to the fact the growing trays must be watertight and not degrade I have chosen plastic, possibly ABS or HDPE as the material for the trays. The shelves should be a bamboo ply - a versatile and cost effective material which is both fashionable and sustainable. The final main component of the product will be the plants themselves, the green of growing plants complimenting the bamboo and contrasting the white plastic.
// Finish
Regarding finish the plastic parts should be finished in a rough sand blasted mould. This offers not only benefits to grip when in use but also gives a matte finish. Being bamboo the shelves should be sanded smooth and finished with a light finishing oil creating a glossy soft finish, contrasting the plastic parts. Plants cannot be ‘finished’ per-Se, but with proper care will grow green and luscious.
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2// Ideation
// 1
Concept 1 was a system which tracked products in and out of cupboards and fridges to help users to remember what they own and buy accordingly.
// Project Aim
Design a product that educates users of the value of food and empowers them to both reduce their avoidable food waste and find value in their unavoidable waste.
Following the research phase I began to mind map with the assistance of a group and then sketch out my ideas, basing my concepts on both the key users I had identified and the key drivers and effects of food waste I had uncovered.
// 2
Concept 2 was for a storage box which detected degradation in food stored within it and alerted the user to this, encouraging them to eat leftovers before they go off, and to reassure them that their food is safe.
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// 3
Concept 3 was similar to #1, a probe or portable ‘sniffer’ to help users get an accurate guide on if food was safe to eat.
// 4
Concept 4 was the concept I ultimately settled with, originally an all in one system where composting was used to create heat, and through harvesting that heat the product would generate electricity used to grow food.
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3// How it works
The operation of Loop is simple, the user plants a batch of seeds in the Nursery, and leaves them to germinate and begin to grow. During this time the user collects their food waste in the composter and sprinkles Bokashi on-top of each layer. When the composter is full the user puts it aside to ferment for two weeks. The user then begins the same process with a second composter whist the first is breaking down their waste. After two weeks once the composter has broken down the food waste and the seedlings in the Nursery have begun to grow the plants are potted in the Cultivator, using a Bokashi/compost mix. Once the plants are fully grown they can be harvested and eaten, with any left overs going straight back into the Composter, completing the cycle.
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// Nursery
// Composter
//Cultivator
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1 // Rock wool planting plugs soaked in water. 2// Nursery assembled with correct tray & rock wool plugs inserted. 3// Seeds planted in Rock wool plugs.
1 // Food is placed in composter.
1 // Tray filled with Bokashi and soil.
2// Bokashi bran is sprinkled over food waste.
2// Rockwool plugs transferred to planting pots.
3// When composter is full lid is sealed and left for 2 weeks.
3// Planting pots planted in tray. 4// Tray placed under lamp.
4// Leachate is drained periodically. 4// Tray filled with water.
5// Plants harvested as needed. 5// Treated food waste is emptied.
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5// Nursery moved to bright location.
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2// Ideation
Whilst the product development process was not linear the first part I focused on was the Nursery. Going into the process I was aware that I wanted to allow the user to grow at a flexible rate and manage multiple types of crops and began designing based on this concept.
One of the key initial ideas I had was to drop the trays through the shelf, forcing a neat and uniform layout on the shelves.
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// Sketch Modelling
Having decided on a rough form I began to look into the interactions, I was determined to try and keep a sleek profile, and created a test rig to work out if my idea of dropping the tray through the shelf and using the taper to catch it was reasonable. I modelled and tested different grips with 95th and 5th percentile hands and also looked into the distance required between each tray for the user to comfortably be able to pick up the tray.
I decided that the best way to begin designing was to work out the arrangements of growing plugs. Using cardboard I began sketch modelling out different arrangements taking into consideration effective use of space/materials, whether draft angles would likely intersect with the rockwool holders etc. I ultimately decided on a 4x4 grid, an effective use of space and 16 plants seemed like not only a manageable amount of plants, would, when in a set of 4 allow 64 plants to be grown at any one time, at various stages of development and allow for easy management of 4 varieties of leaf.
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I also tested simple thumb tab shapes for the insert. When empty it’d be easy enough to use the planting holes to lift the tray, but as I found with my benchmark researching this was much harder once it was full.
I tested some different shapes and sizes for fit and aesthetic value.
Through my development whist designing a lid for the Nursery, I was presented by two problems, A) the lid I’d designed, looked awful once vac formed and B) the lettuce I’d grown under a lid had very weak stems and was completely floppy - I later read that when plants are grown under a lid there’s no airflow, plants need airflow or physical movement to trigger strong stem growth. Despite most existing products using a lid I ditched the idea, I felt I could achieve the same benefits by simply raising the tray up high, away from accidental damage.
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1mm indent allows for snug fit of insert.
Strengthening on base reduces potential flex and removes the need for internal ribs, therefore avoiding sink marks.
Holes in the base allow roots to grow down but also offer easy removal of planting plugs.
Thumb tab for tray removal.
Large radius offers good controlled pouring action. Maximum weight <1KG affording comfortable and easy use.
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2// Composter
What is Bokashi?
Bokashi is an anaerobic Japanese fermentation process which essentially pickles food through the use of microbe enriched bran.
Why Bokashi?
It’s Easy: Users can compost all types of food, including meat, bones and dairy. It’s Silent: Bokashi doesn’t create any putrid odours It’s Fast: Food waste can be fermented in 2 weeks and composted to soil in another 2 weeks. Leachate makes great plant food: When mixed with soil and water Bokashi leachate makes great fertiliser for plants. Why not Compost? It’s time consuming: Traditional compost requires turning, tracking Carbon : Nitrogen ratios & moisture control. It creates greenhouse gasses: Even well kept compost heaps secrete greenhouse gasses.
The test which forced me to drop the idea of traditional composting was this composting container made from two 2l drinks bottles. I tested periodically for temperature changes to see if enough heat would be produced to harvest any reasonable amount of electricity. The ultimate conclusion was no, not at all. The temperature peak was relatively warm but was far too short lived, it was also extremely hard to keep the compost heap in good condition and the final resulting product was a revolting, putrid mulch. Despite having done lots of research and carefully composed the heap with what I believed to be a good C:N ratio and water content I failed to attain an even remotely acceptable outcome, suggesting that the process is simply far too hard for the average user to make it worthwhile.
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// Sketch Modelling
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I decided to test the principle of Bokashi composting to see if it really was odour free, and could realistically be achieved in 2 weeks.
I began by taking 2 buckets of the same size and drilling holes into the base of one, these holes acted as drains for leachate, the holed bucked is placed within the standard bucket so that leachate can be caught.
The bottom of the inner bucket is lined with Bokashi to ensure that the bottom layer of food is processed and doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t turn putrid.
Food is layered on-top at about 1 inch at a time. Anything can be added so long as it is degradable, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not unusual to add cooked food or meats - one time I added a whole chicken breast with no bad odours.
Each layer is sprinkled with Bokashi bran, ensuring that the top and bottom layers are processed. In between layers the food should be pressed upon to squeeze out any air as Bokashi composting is an anaerobic process.
The bucket is sealed and left for 2 weeks to treat the waste, the final product is almost pickled and smells of vinegar. Whist this bucket is processing the user can begin to fill another bucket, and after two weeks swap around, constantly cycling between 2.
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// Further Development
Following on from my functional research I wanted to establish an attractive form which complimented the nursery and set about looking at opposing tapers to try and create a functional yet attractive form.
From the testing I did I was able to assemble a sort of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;shopping listâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of components I would need to design and consider if I were to successfully design the composter.
From my testing I was aware that a house of 4 wasted circa. 9 litres of food every 2 weeks, based on this I toyed with some different ratios for my composter and tested how they fitted on my worktop.
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Push clip makes lid easy to open.
Pieces assemble and disassemble easily for easy use and cleaning. Large opening area allows for easy filling and spreading of Bokashi.
Enough capacity for 2 weeks of food waste.
Lid removable to aid cleaning. Removable base used for leachate collection.
Spring loaded hinge allows for easy opening.
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Plastic Gauze helps separate leachate and Bokashi
Taper of compost bin catches gauze making it easy to place.
// Alternative Solution
The assembly and manufacturing difficulties I encountered when designing the composter were amongst the most difficult during the project, I made a large change in how the body was assembled and how lechate was collected towards the end of term and that concept is still a work in progress here.
Large opening area allows for easy filling and spreading of Bokashi.
The sliding tray (without side and back wall in images) Offers a more elegant solution to removal of leachate and also allows for the mid and lower section to be assembled as one, it also allows for the body to fold in on itself increasing strength and acting as itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own support
Alternative sliding lechate collection tray concept. (cutaway sides in images)
One Piece moulding folds in itself for extra strength and to improve assembly.
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6// Cultivator
Based Heavily on the Nursery the Cultivator is simply a second home for the plants grown in the Nursery, Retaining the same styling but changing in size and function. The design process for this component was very much function over form.
Planting pots are circular to allow the user to twist them into the compost.
Central channel allows displaced compost to leave and affords the user a space to water.
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//7 Shelves Using measurements for familiar items I set about plotting my shelves - I was keen to use existing items as references, I measured and observed multiple cupboards in IKEA and also took inspiration for a single kitchen fridge - a size and shape that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re all familiar and comfortable with.
To tie all of the other components together I designed a shelving unit. I researched the key ergonomic areas, considering which components would be best at what height and arrangement to try and ensure use of the system was effortless and convenient.
Based on the measurements I took I plotted out my shelves in real size on my wall, using my Housemate as a reference and after discussions and querying the way in which each component was used, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s maximum weight and how often it would need to be handled I was able to plot out the arrangement of each shelf ensuring that they complimented the component that would be housed on them.
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Top shelf makes use of space above nursery and dissuades users from hanging items from the dowel. The Nursery Shelf sits slightly above maximum work surface height - not a problem due the nursery weighing just 1kg in use. The Cultivator trays sit at 90cm off the ground - the height of most work surfaces, making harvesting and moving easy.
The Drawer assembly acts as both hidden storage and a shelf for other kitchen items.
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//8 BOM
<2.5>
146.62 25.00
121.70
.0°
24.50
N-1
15
<1.5>
Following designing the system I looked into the costing and pricing of the system - This page shows an example, I do have a more comprehensive list but its rather boring and very long and ultimately not neccesary for the purpose of this portfolio.
<59.50>
149.80
<2.00>
N-2
146.62
19.86
14.08
27.00
Part Number
Part Name
Material
Process
N-1
Nursery Tray
HDPE, 10% Glass Fibre Filled
Injection Moulding
N-2
Nursery Insert
HDPE, 10% Glass Fibre Filled
Injection Moulding
TOTALS
Finish
Bounding Mass (g) Mould Cost Quantity Box (mm) PM-T1 W: 149.797 x 111.209 £ 1524.10 4 per pack Med Glass L: 149.797 x Bead. H: 59.506 PM-T1 W: 170.253 x Med Glass L: 146.621 x H: 30.419 Bead.
65.227
176.436
£ 1482.06
4 per pack
Cost £ 0.569 for 1 £227,600 for 400,000 £ 0.422 for 1 £ 168,667.06 for 400,000 £3.96 - Set of 4 £396,267.06- 100,000 sets
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