The United Nations has recently highlighted the impact of the broken food system on climate change. Over 1.3 billion tonnes of food waste, costing over £800 Billion, has led to over 3.3 Gtonnes of carbon dioxide being emitted. All this, while no less than 800 million people are hungry or malnourished globally. The most recent report by the Waste Resource and Action Programme indicates that the UK generates around 9.5 million tonnes of food waste each year, costing households and businesses a combined total of £19 billion.

The three main biological treatment technologies used in the UK to treat food, garden and residual household waste include composting, anaerobic digestion (AD) and mechanical biological treatment (MBT) facilities. These use micro-organisms, such as bacteria, to break down the organic material in the waste. As the waste goes through different phases of break down, bioaerosols are released in potentially high concentrations around the waste treatment facilities.

Bioaerosols contain particulate matter of microbial, plant or animal origin (bacteria, fungi, viruses, allergens, toxins, pollen, plant fibres, etc). Exposure to high concentrations of bioaerosols at biowaste facilities can result in adverse human health effects with links to respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses. People who have a suppressed immune system are known to be at a higher risk of developing such conditions.

To enhance the recovery of bio-nutrients and biochemicals from inedible food waste within households and businesses, while reducing exposure to bioaerosols, the iDigest - a nature-inspired robot - has been developed by IntelliDigest. It uses the same principles as our body to sense and analyse the composition of food waste, prompting the secretion of the right combination and quantity of enzymes to break it down, usually in less than 4 hours per cycle. Nutrients are then recovered from the iDigest for future use in food production.

In this project, we will be working with NPL to develop a new method for the capture and sensitive analysis of bioaerosol emission during iDigest operation. Whatever the outcome, this activity is important to IntelliDigest. If bioaerosol levels are low or negligible, it will represent a vital step towards demonstrating to iDigest users that it is safe for use within indoor residential and occupational environments. If the results show that there is bioaerosol emission from iDigest, it will enable us to innovate our product further with improved safety in mind.