VietNamNet Bridge - A group of students from HCMC University of Technology (Hutech) have created an organic waste automatic compressor for household use which treats waste on the spot. 

The machine will help ease the burden on waste collectors

The machine, if commercially developed, will bring big benefits as it can help ease the burden on waste collectors. Organic waste, after being compressed, will become a kind of biological fertilizer.

Organic waste will produce bad odor and leak water during transportation, thus causing pollution and affecting urban landscape. The machine created by the students can fix the problem because it produces waste cakes right in the kitchen.

At Euréka, a scientific research competition for students held recently, Phan Dang Trung Duong and members of the team showed the compressed waste cake which was completely dry and odorless.

The operation of the compressor is based on hydraulic compressing technology. Users put waste into the compressing chamber, where the system will compress the waste to extract all the water. 

When the machine runs, the waste water will be carried to a storage chamber from which it will undergo three filtration layers before released into the environment. 

The compressor is designed in a way to fit a family kitchen. It operates automatically and doesn’t produce odors during treatment.

"With the capacity of 20x20x30 (long, wide, high) of the compressing chamber, the system can compress the amount of garbage used within 2 days by a 4-member family into one cake," Huynh Tan Long, one of the inventors, said.

What worries the inventors now is that their machine is just a model. As all of the members of the team are architecture students, their ability in mechanical engineering and electronic design to create an automated system is limited.

Before developing the machine, the research team conducted a survey at 10 households in a residential quarter in Binh Thanh district, HCMC. The biggest concern of the households was the high cost of the waste compressor, VND2-3 million.

However, the students explained that the compressed waste can be sold to people who use it as fertilizer. 

“If households can sell the compressed cakes of waste to farmers, they will completely be able to take back the initial investment capital and earn money with the compressor,” Duong said.

What worries the inventors now is that their machine is just a model. As all of the members of the team are architecture students, their ability in mechanical engineering and electronic design to create an automated system is limited.

Nguyen Thanh Tan, a lecturer a Hutech, said the commercial development of the product is feasible if the students work with mechanical engineering and automation experts.