Composia

In 2022, 14.1 kg of organic waste was discarded incorrectly on McGill's downtown campus [1], which may be related to the limited availability of composting infrastructure across all campus buildings. Currently, organic waste from McGill is transported to off-site composting facilities for processing [2]. During this transportation, greenhouse gases are emitted by the vehicles that transport the organic waste. Additionally, compost can take from two weeks to several years to fully degrade depending on the practices used [3]. Unpleasant odors associated with compost can also disincentivize communities from implementing composting solutions.

The lack of on-site composting on McGill campus limits the accessibility of composting for students living in residences. This project aims to give students the opportunity to design, prototype, and test a smart composting bin that uses bio-based active materials, such as microbes and enzymes, for accelerated composting. Additionally, biosensors may be incorporated to provide real-time actionable feedback to users and measure parameters such as pH, microbial activity, and gas emission. This data will be used to optimize compost bin conditions to accelerate the decomposition rate and to implement an odor control solution. Overall, this project will involve the McGill community in processing its organic waste and raise awareness about composting solutions on campus.