Company historyEcofast Italia S.r.l. - Environmental Technology was established in Milan on November 23th 1998 by Alessandro Calderoni, Mario Cantù, Davide Mara and Piero Rusconi Clerici, importing in Europe food waste disposers for domestic and professional users. In this business had already operated with great success Ecofast SA, a Swiss company based in Locarno (Canton Ticino), set up in 1994 by Philippe Kneier from Basel.
Thanks to the cooperation with R.Wagner & C. S.p.A., a Italian company specialising in the business of hardened, hardenable and tempered steel strips, since from the beginning, the company's activity has been characterized by a more marked technical connotation, carrying out, first in Italy, not only important tests in the use of food waste disposes, but an innovative research and development activity to the invention of new patents for new products/technologies in order to enhance a more sustainable and economic management of food waste.
In September 2007, Ecofast Italia moves its activity to Monza, finding in EMER S.p.A. an Italian company, founded in 1955, producing a wide range of floor care appliances, the ideal partner, both for technical and productive know how, to start the production of the new products for the economic management of food waste.
Since May 19th 2001, Ecofast Italia has been associated with the DRA (Food Waste disposers) Group within UIDA (Environmental Technology Suppliers' Union), one of the Associations of ANIMA (the Federation of the Italian Associations of Mechanical and Engineering Industries) which is, in its turn, one of the most important Associations of the Italian Confederation of the Industry - Confindustria.
List of experiments1998 Comune di Camposampiero (PD)
FUS 20 project experimentation, supplying and installation of 250 food waste disposers for domestic use
Techno-scientific Supervisor: University of Padova;
1999 Comune di Castel di Sangro (AQ)
FUS 20 project experimentation, supplying to our distributor Ecodepura S.r.l. 250 food waste disposers for domestic use;
2000 Comune di Serrapetrona (MC)
FUS 20 project experimentation, supplying of 25 food waste disposers for domestic use.
2005 Comune di Monghidoro (BO)
FUS 20 project experimentation, supplying and installation of 100 food waste disposers for domestic use and n.2 workstations for professional use.
Techno-scientific Supervisor University of Ancona.
2005 Comune di Gagliole (MC)
FUS 20 project experimentation, supplying and and installation of 54 food waste disposers for domestic use, of which 4 provided with a system for sensing the quantity treated and 1 workstation for professional use.
Techno-scientific Supervisor: University of Ancona.
2005 Xll Comunità Montana "Monti Ernici (FR)"
supplying of 300 food waste disposers for domestic use.
2005 Comune di Fiumicino (Rome)
FUS 20 High Selection Project experimentation, supplying and installation of n.6 professional machines for food waste reduction system (dehydration).
On going:
2006 Sistema Ambiente S.p.A. (Municipal Company of Lucca)
supplying and installation of 700 food waste dsiposers for domestic use.
Techno-scientific Supervisor: Bologna University.
EnvironmentEcofast considers the protection of the environment one of its priorities, considering it essential for its own success and for the satisfaction of its clients, and it pursues it on par with technological excellency and with quality, productivity, finalised to innovation.
Ecofast recognises that the continuous improvement of its environmental performance leads to significant commercial and economical advantages; therefore it guarantees respect for the laws and for the environmental rules and regulations assuring the carrying out of its production in an ecologically correct manner, minimising every negative impact on the environment of its activity and putting into effect programmes for environmental improvement, creating, in this way, managment systems which are coherent with the standards of international rules and regulations ISO 14001:2004.
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USE OF DOMESTIC DISPOSERS
EXPERIMENTATION CARRIED OUT IN CAMPOSAMPIERO (PD)
On 6 April 1998, Ecofast SA - Environmental Technology, in collaboration with the Chemical Engineering Department of the University of Padua, Consorzio Tergola, Consorzio Bacino "Padova Uno", and AMNIUP - Environment Division of Azienda Padova Servizi SpA, launched a medium-scale experiment involving three residential areas in Camposampiero, Padua. The latter is a small town constituted by about 3,000 families for a total of 10,000 inhabitants and has been practicing source separated collecting system since April 1, 1996. Waste collection is divided into wet, "green", paper, recyclable dry waste (glass, tin cans, plastic), dangerous waste, bulk waste and non-recyclable dry waste, an effort which was rewarded by the environmental association "Legambiente", who acclaimed Camposampiero as "The best recycling municipality" in 1997-98-99.
The experimentation involved the installation of 150 disposers in a particular housing complex. The waste from 107 of these disposers was discharged into a sewer pipe that was monitored for almost 12 months (from 18/05/98 to 20/06/99).
The disposer used is a standard 1/2 HP (380Watt) model, suitable for a family of five.
Samples for analysis were taken from the following points:
- At the far end of the sewer pipe located in viale Venezia, which carried waste discharged by the disposer users. A stirrer was installed in the sewer inspection pit in order to homogenise the wastewater;
- At the inlet of the municipal wastewater treatment plant (i.e. at the end of the sewer system which collects various sewer sections, including the section being monitored);
- At the exit of the wastewater treatment plant.
Recycling Organic Waste or rather, food waste, by means of the disposers, potentially offers several advantages when compared to the "door-to-door collecting system" made with the aid of vehicles, both from the environmental and economical point of view.
In fact, reducing the amount of refuse to be collected and treated means that less trips are necessary, thereby affecting the chief cost factor involved in door-to-door collection. Likewise, noise and environmental pollution generated by the collection vehicles is diminished, and traffic is lighter.
THE EFFECT OF INSTALLING THE DISPOSERS ON DRAINS
Installation: from a strictly technical point of view, disposer installation
problems were only encountered wherever ceramic sinks (1.5% of cases),
partly obstructed drain pipes (8.1% of cases), and narrow drainpipes made of lead (4% of cases) were present.
Sewer system and lift stations: considering all the sewers of the residential areas involved in the experimentation, the number of cleaning activities had to be increased from 7 to 10. Obstructions were caused by materials consisting of fatty deposits, detergents, hair and other filamentous material.
Chemistry and treatment: in view of the composition of the material that was ground, the monitored parameters were: total suspended solids (SS), total nitrogen content (TKN), oils and fats, and the organic load (BOD and COD).
In viale Venezia, variations were detected in the following parameters:
- TKN, whose concentration changed from 24.27 to 41.18 mgN/l.
- Oils and fats, whose concentration changed from 13.49 to 31.54 mg/l.
- COD, whose concentration changed from 379.25 to 424.22 mgO2/l.No variations were detected in the concentrations of suspended solids and BOD.
At the inlet to the wastewater treatment plant, the most significant variations were as follows:
- TKN, whose concentration changed from 28.28 to 39.05mgN/l.
- Oils and fats, whose concentration changed from 9.13 to 24,5 mg/l.
Investigations are in progress to check whether such an increase may havebeen due to a change in the food waste management system of the local hospital which makes up for approximately 20% of the wastewater entering the treatment plant.
POSITIVE ASPECTS NOTICED BY CITIZENS
Use of the disposer does not significantly affect water and electricity family consumption rates and the majority considered the noise emitted by the disposer to be acceptable (86.6% of the persons surveyed).
From the point of view of social sustainability, results were decidedly encouraging. 91% of the users taking part in the experimentation were in favour of the system, affirming that disposal of the domestic wet fraction by means of the disposer is definitely more comfortable when compared to "door-to-door" waste collection (no deadlines have to be met). Further, everyday nuisances generated by organic waste such as bad smells, proliferation of bugs and dripping garbage bags, are eliminated.
OUR CONCLUSIONS
The results recorded so far show that the general impact of the domestic disposers on the wastewater treatment plant in Camposampiero is low. The quality of the wastewater did not change significantly as far as the parameters investigated in literature, such as BOD, SS and COD, are concerned.
The percentage concentration of TKN and oils and fats increased considerably but in relatively modest amounts overall.
It seems evident that the source separated collecting system of municipal solid waste can be improved through this system, with substantial saving on costs. Nevertheless it must be emphasised that end results depend on the system being installed methodically and uniformly. Although the system would prove highly satisfactory for the individual thanks to the ease of use, time-saving and reduced effort offered by this appliance, random installation of the disposer would result in a very small saving of resources (men and vehicles) employed in the collection of urban solid waste, whereby the overall advantages for the company providing the service would be minimal.
