Ten bins in, two bins out.

Ten bins in. Two out. Fewer collections, less storage, less smell. Count your own bin bay before and after.

Line drawing: ten identical wheelie bins stand in two rows of five at the left, and a slim arrow points from them into a plain machine cabinet with a blank front panel. Two more bins, drawn at exactly the same size as the ten, stand at the right under the machine's outlet chute. A wide plume of fine stipple lifts off the machine's lid and drifts away, thinning as it rises. On the machine's other side a thin pipe drips three drops into a small drain set in the floor. Speedo, the culture, stands on the floor line beyond the two bins. — 06 · ten bins in, two bins out

Ten bins in, two bins out. The process reduces the amount left for collection; the result varies with the waste.

What actually happens

Food waste is mostly water. Over the cycle that water is driven off, as vapour and as filtered condensate. Some organic matter is also broken down biologically, releasing carbon dioxide and water. The reduction is not water alone. The remaining compost takes up less space than the original food waste.

Ten to two is a ratio you can check against your own bin bay. Count the bins the week before the machine arrives, and count them the week after.

The ratio to check against your bay

A ratio of 10:2.

Line drawing of the back service yard of a restaurant after service. A roller shutter is pulled about two thirds down in a plain rendered wall, with a wall-mounted hose reel beside it and a mop bucket on castors standing below. On the right, four empty crates stacked against the wall and a broom leaning next to them. A long bin bay is painted on the concrete floor, and standing at its left-hand end are two wheelie bins with their lids closed; the rest of the painted bay is empty swept floor, and a slot drain runs across the foreground. Speedo, the culture, sits on the closed lid of the nearer bin. — The bay, the week after

A bay marked out for far more than is standing in it. Count the bins before, and count them after.

bins in
one ordinary week

bins out
the same week

less to handle
illustrative bin reduction

For the kitchen

What it means on your floor.

Fewer collections

Less output can reduce the volume you need to handle or collect. Actual savings depend on the waste stream and your collection contract.

Less storage

Bin bays are built for peak volume, and it is the peak that falls. Space is usually the first thing a site gets back.

Less smell

What is left is dry, and dry waste does not smell the way a wet bin does in a Malaysian afternoon. That is step 07.

Measuring the result

Reading the reduction.

Ten to two describes a composter, not the whole range. A digester is a different machine. It converts food waste into a liquid effluent for discharge through an approved site connection, so nothing comes out to put in a bin. This ratio does not describe it.
And your own week will not land exactly on ten and two. It is a ratio, not a guarantee, and it moves with what you cook. The only way to know yours is to weigh a week before and a week after. That is also how you know whether the machine you are being quoted is the right size.

The count you can check yourself

Ten and two is a ratio — yours is a number.

Record both the amount of waste fed in and the output, using the same measurement method. Our weighing guide helps you start. Tell us about your waste stream and we can compare composting with OUTFLOW liquid digestion.

Discuss your waste volume →

Previous · step 05oil is the hard part Back to all seven steps Next · step 07what's left