Food Waste Recovery with Takakura Portable Compost Boxes in Offices and Working Places

Urban Farm DB summary

A field study placing the Kitakyushu-origin 'Takakura' composting method—widely diffused in Surabaya, Indonesia—as small portable boxes in university offices and workplaces in Costa Rica. Processing food waste from 45 staff over six months, it shows that low-cost, citizen/workplace-scale fermentation composting is viable.

Only numbers and their conditions are stored, as structured data — never the source's own sentences. Metric and condition names stay in English, as coded.

• 2

  box count(takakura compost box)

  Compost

  region

  CR

  setting

  office-kitchens

  institution

  instituto-tecnologico-de-costa-rica

  period

  2015-06-to-2015-12

• 45

  participant count(office staff)

  Compostn = 45

  region

  CR

  setting

  office-workplace

  period

  2015-06-to-2015-12

• 88.29 kg

  processed mass(food waste)

  Compost

  region

  CR

  setting

  office-workplace

  period

  2015-06-to-2015-12

  excluded

  grease-oil-raw-meat-bones

• 232 l

  processed volume(food waste)

  Compost

  region

  CR

  setting

  office-workplace

  period

  2015-06-to-2015-12

• 17.37 kg

  compost mass(compost output)

  Compost

  region

  CR

  setting

  office-workplace

  period

  2015-06-to-2015-12

• 37 l

  compost volume(compost output)

  Compost

  region

  CR

  setting

  office-workplace

  period

  2015-06-to-2015-12

• 80 %↓ Decrease

  mass reduction(food waste)

  CompostControl: mass of food waste added

  region

  CR

  setting

  office-workplace

  method

  takakura-composting

• 84 %↓ Decrease

  volume reduction(food waste)

  CompostControl: volume of food waste added

  region

  CR

  setting

  office-workplace

  method

  takakura-composting

• 14.7

  c n ratio(compost output)

  Compost

  region

  CR

  setting

  office-workplace

  note

  reported-as-14.7/1-indicative-of-maturity

• 92 %

  agreement with source separation(office staff)

  Socialn = 45

  region

  CR

  setting

  office-workplace

  study design

  survey

• 37 %

  suggested box outside building(office staff)

  Socialn = 45

  region

  CR

  setting

  office-workplace

  study design

  survey

Direction of conclusions

Each author conclusion is recorded only as a coded direction per topic. Read the original for the conclusion itself.

• Compost / nutrient cycleSupportsWith caveats
• Labour and participationMixedWith caveats

The Takakura technique converts food waste into compost. This project explored the potential use of composting in offices and workplaces. The method involves using small boxes containing a fermentation substrate where food waste is added. Two Takakura composting boxes (TCBs) were placed in the kitchens of the Chemistry Department and the Environmental Engineering buildings at the Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, Costa Rica. Food waste from both buildings, comprising the food waste of 45 staff members, were composted from June to December 2015. All types of food, except grease, oil, raw meat, and bones, were processed. The mass and volume of food added to the boxes were quantified daily. A chemical analysis of the compost was also performed. A speech was given to educate the staff members about the system. A survey, before and after the speech, was developed to evaluate the knowledge and tolerance towards composting in closed spaces. A total mass of 88.29 kg, equivalent to 232 L of residues, was processed, from which 17.37 kg (37 L) of compost was obtained. This represented a mass and volume reduction of 80% and 84%, respectively. Compost analysis gave a C/N ratio of 14.7/1, indicative of maturity. Most of the staff members (92%) agreed to the separation of waste at the source. However, 37% suggested allocating the box outside the building. The survey, after the speech, showed that educating staff is necessary before installing boxes at a workplace.