AND BEYOND
Transforming Food Waste, Pioneering a Sustainable Future
By and large, the modern composting industry treats all food waste the same. Material is mixed together as it is collected in rear-load garbage trucks, and then it is tipped at industrial facilities where it is combined with brushy waste. This system may be an efficient process, but the end result is often a relatively low-quality, low-value compost, not the “black gold” typically marketed to consumers.
At Break it Down we recognize that there is a large variety of different types of food waste, dependent on the type of business generating the material. Different food wastes have the potential to be processed into different, value-added products. For this reason, we haul each business’s food waste in separate containers (this system also gives us the ability to swap containers so our customers start with fresh, clean bins after every pick-up).
At our unique facility, we can then process the differing food wastes using dehydration or a biochar retort to achieve specific materials. Once the water is removed, the food waste is stabilized and now it becomes a question of material science. How can we manipulate materials into a form that creates more value?
In this manner, Break it Down is transforming an under-utilized resource base into a novel set of supply chains. We believe the only true limit of what we can make is our imagination.
Read on to learn about some of the novel products we have in development.
“Don’t limit yourself to the skies when there is a whole galaxy out there.”
DEHYDRATION
The primary workhorses behind our vision are 4 state-of-the-art dehydrators built by Hungry Giant. Each one can process up to 1.5 tons per batch! Depending on the type of material, we can dry 6-10 tons per day into powders with various compositions and physical properties. The resulting material is sterilized, stable, and reproducible.
SOIL FOOD
To feed plants, feed the soil. There are many different types of soil, from sand to clay, fertile to nearly lifeless, and our scientific understanding of how to care for and enrich soil continues to improve.
Whether you are fully invested in soil science and utilize regular soil tests and specific formulas for your garden, or prefer a simpler process of plant and soil maintenance, we are formulating a range of products that, all together, will provide your soil with what it needs to support healthy plant growth throughout the year.
While not fully developed, we will update our site as products become available.
Are you a business or individual curious about where we are now?
BIOCHAR
As an alternative to dehydration, biochar production involves using very high temperatures and minimal to no oxygen to produce materials with varied and unique properties. Put differently, some of the food wastes we accept don’t dehydrate well – at Break it Down our minds naturally wondered, what if we heat the heck out of it instead! The complexity and variations of biochar materials, however, still challenges the scientific community.
Even seemingly small changes in the temperature and burn time can result in materials with different chemical or material properties. Add to this challenge the huge range of marketing claims associated with biochar products, many of which haven’t quite panned out as advertised. While we don’t think biochar will “save the world,” we do think that, here again, there are many opportunities to transform materials in our waste stream into higher value-added products to benefit society.
BONE CHAR
Bones processed with high heat into a bone char can be very effective at removing excess Fluoride from drinking water.
Globally, excess fluoride in drinking water affects upwards of 300 M people. In Mexico alone, there are roughly 20 million people, mostly in rural areas, drinking water with elevated levels of naturally occurring Fluoride.
This situation only gets worse as the local aquifers continue to drop. Break it Down is working with several biochar experts in association with Caminos de Agua, a nonprofit organization in Mexico, to produce a dependable, high-quality bone char water filtration medium.
Hairchar is a form of charcoal made from burning hair at high temperatures in an oxygen-limited environment. This process is known as pyrolysis. Most biochars are depleted in nitrogen. However, by burning the hair we collect from local salons and pet groomers, we create a nitrogen-rich biochar product.
Our Hairchar is excellent for the long-term enrichment of houseplants and garden soil.
