Frequently Asked Compost Questions
Answers for composting with Bioverter
Bioverter is a groundbreaking self-contained compost bin with many standout features. It:
- Self-aerates, eliminating the need to mix or turn wastes by hand
- Provides a controlled environment for fast and consistent composting
- Captures every recycled element to get the most out of your waste
- Gathers fresh compost and juice in separate collectors for easy removal
In contrast, traditional compost bins and tumblers require regular aeration by mixing for composting to succeed. However, mixing makes it hard to judge when the jumbled wastes have fully broken down into compost. Compost removal is also difficult, needing digging or extraction through a hatch.
Bioverter is designed to make home composting effortless. Lift the lid to add waste. Close the lid to let the waste transform into compost while descending towards the bottom. A collector at the base gathers freshly made compost. Slide out the collector to remove fresh compost.
Bioverter’s innovations make the process of transforming waste reliably into high quality compost a simple, hassle-free experience.
Bioverter was developed to solve the problems of traditional compost systems such as compost bins, tumblers and worm farms.
Traditional composting methods require a lot of work to achieve good results. Common challenges include:
- Frequent manual mixing
- Stalled composting due to dryness
- Stinky, soggy compost
- Smells that draw rats and other pests
- Slow composting in uninsulated compost systems
- Uncertainty about when compost is ready for removal
Adding kitchen scraps can worsen your composting problems if you don’t limit the amount and type of scraps in traditional compost bins and tumblers.
The traditional way to compost is more difficult than it needs to be.
Bioverter's bespoke design sets it apart from traditional compost systems. It is a completely closed unit which self-aerates for odour-free and pest-free composting. Its insulation keeps inside temperatures hotter for faster composting. A novel output - compost juice - is created from excess water, preventing soggy problems. Freshly made compost and juice flow into separate pull-out collectors for easy removal.
Bioverter uniquely handles everyday kitchen waste as its main input, and recycles the nutritious waste into high quality compost. In addition, Bioverter eliminates mixing as a requirement while making composting effortless.
Home composting is effortless and accessible with Bioverter.
Developed with science and a focus on convenience, Bioverter’s novel self-contained design is easy to use. Simply feed Bioverter your everyday kitchen scraps, and your rewards will gather in base collectors for easy retrieval.
Positioning the compact outdoor unit within reach of your kitchen will also make depositing scraps easier.
Bioverter has been used for years, successfully recycling kitchen wastes generated by households of between 1 and 4 occupants.
During long-term trials an 8L kitchen caddy was emptied into Bioverter two to three times every week without overfilling it.
It takes time, typically around three months, to set up Bioverter fully and make compost routinely from your regular waste inputs.
Getting Bioverter started is straightforward. First, you complete the assembly - no tools are required and assembly instructions are provided. Then select where to put your assembled Bioverter and carry out the one time startup composting phase.
During this startup period, you feed Bioverter to establish a wide variety of compost microbes. Once these natural micro-organisms are in place, they work together to convert your waste in an orderly sequence into compost.
The startup period ends after the earliest waste inputs have transformed into dark compost that's ready to be taken out.
However, about a fortnight after startup and well before your first compost harvest, you can begin to collect compost juice - a new and highly rewarding output from Bioverter.
Compost juice is a remarkable product that Bioverter creates uniquely from kitchen scraps with high water content such as fruits and vegetables. It can’t be created with traditional compost systems.
A lot of water is released during the conversion of kitchen scraps into compost. As the water descends through Bioverter, it is enriched with goodness such as soil probiotics, soluble nutrients and humus substances. It ends up as dark compost juice in the bottom collection tray.
It is simple to harvest and use compost juice straight away. Pull out the collector, pour the juice into a watering can, add water to dilute it, and then apply the diluted compost juice to your garden soil or houseplants.
Compost juice allows you to spread compost goodness easily and further - a bonus Bioverter benefit.
A typical household of 4 can feed Bioverter daily, or two or more times a week with a kitchen caddy. Feeding with this frequency results in harvests of compost juice weekly and fresh compost monthly. Your outputs will vary with how much and how often your Bioverter is fed.
A full juice tray will fill a third of a 9L watering can, and a full compost basket will half fill a 200mm plant pot.
Pull out the bottom tray to see the compost juice level, and jiggle the compost collection basket to gauge the amount in it. (A lightly filled basket is easy to move.)
Homemade compost and juice are abundant with soil probiotics, which are micro-organisms that help make nutrients in soil more available to plants and suppress disease. Soil is healthy if rich in these beneficial microbes. Healthy soil is the foundation of healthy plants.
Microbial life is diminished in bought compost due to the delay between manufacture and being used.
In addition, the nutritional quality of bought compost will vary depending on the type of raw material used in commercial manufacturing. Using Bioverter to recycle your kitchen waste ensures all nutrients are recovered as compost juice and homemade compost.
Fresh compost is what you get straight out of any compost system. In Bioverter, it gathers in a pull-out collector at the base.
It has limited applications in the garden because it wants to mature, evolving to its final stable form.
You can mature fresh compost by leaving it to rest using one of our three suggestions. Nature will do the rest and turn it into mature compost.
Mature (rested) compost looks and feels like dark crumbly soil. Earthy in smell, it is ready to be blended with soil or potting mix to create a nourished and improved medium for growing healthy plants.
It is tempting to harvest and use freshly made compost immediately, but be mindful of the potential negative effect on plants.
Fresh compost is in its immature state. If buried, it can pull nitrogen and oxygen away from plants. Therefore, if you’d like to use compost in a raw state, keep it away from roots to avoid inhibiting plant growth or killing young plants.
We recommend, if possible, to go for the safe and better option. Leave fresh compost to rest in a sheltered spot, allowing it to mature into its crumbly soil-like form. You end up with the best organic soil improver for whatever soil you have.
Our experience has shown that you can easily enrich potting mix with compost in a garden pot if you don’t have a garden bed.
In essence, you leave freshly made compost to rest as a layer sandwiched between potting mix. After collecting the next lot of fresh compost, layer it on top and cover with potting mix. Keep going until you fill the pot, then wait for the last lot of fresh compost to mature.
The pot enrichment method is discussed further here. You can get better results with nutritious compost made from nutrient-rich kitchen scraps, especially by using Bioverter to recycle scraps as your main waste.
Worm farms typically use red and tiger wrigglers which require constant moist conditions and mild temperatures. These specific breeds aren’t helpful in Bioverter and won’t survive the high temperatures that speed up the transformation of wastes into compost.
The most helpful type of worms reside in garden soil. Free-range earthworms naturally improve the soil as they burrow deep in your garden, and also produce nutritious worm casts to feed your plants.
This is where you can use Bioverter’s fresh compost to keep soil healthy. The fresh compost is an excellent earthworm feed, and compost-fed earthworms take care of garden soil through their natural underground activities.
Bioverter is compact in size making it a perfect sustainability tool for households with limited space, while also producing regular, high quality output for keen gardeners.
The unit is 90cm tall with a square 38cm x 38cm base - almost as tall as a small wheelie bin, but with a smaller base.
With a 64 litre capacity, Bioverter capably handles regular inputs of everyday kitchen waste, along with flowers and tip pruning. You can feed it daily, or several times a week using a kitchen caddy. Due to the design being engineered for fast composting and the ability to self-empty, Bioverter’s output is comparable to larger and bulkier traditional compost bins.
Place Bioverter on a firm level surface. It is stable on a flat concrete, tile or brick surface. Use a paver or tile (40x40 cm or larger) instead of standing it on grass.
We recommend positioning Bioverter for easy access from your kitchen, preferably away from the midday and early afternoon sun in summer. Placing it under cover gives you dry access on wet days.
Designed for outdoor use, Bioverter doesn't have specific siting requirements. Styled by an accomplished industrial designer, it fits nicely near an exit from the kitchen or in a tight space like a balcony or confined patio.
Bioverter is made out of a food safe plastic, polypropylene. The base uses the same type found in ice cream and yoghurt containers. A foam variant is used to insulate its upper portion.
Bioverter's insulation enables faster composting at higher inside temperatures while keeping its outside surfaces cool to touch.
Polypropylene is also durable and recyclable. Aligned with our sustainability vision, we use 1kg of recycled material in each Bioverter.
The whole unit is UV protected for outdoor use.
Bioverter is wholly designed and manufactured in Australia. From our founder’s extensive research and development in Melbourne, to collaborating with a skillful industrial designer who thoughtfully focused on its quality, durability, usability and aesthetics, then working with an Australian-owned manufacturer to develop the necessary tools for producing Bioverter to specifications.
Every stage of Bioverter’s development has been focused on quality, ethics and using Australian expertise.