OR-FER

Or-Fer is a sustainable compost accelerator developed to transform recycled food waste into a product through natural fermentation. The innovation aims to address food-waste disposal while supporting more sustainable gardening and agricultural practices. Or-Fer is designed for home gardeners, urban farmers, nurseries, small-scale farms, schools, universities, restaurants and environmentally conscious consumers. It focuses on collecting food waste from restaurants, cafeterias and communities, processing and fermenting the waste, then followed by quality checking, packaging, marketing and distribution of the product. A 14-day water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) growth trial was conducted to evaluate plant responses to different organic treatments. Plant height increased from 4.3 cm to 8.5 cm (97.7%) in the control, while bread fertiliser, yoghurt fertiliser, banana eco-enzyme, Farmer’s Effective Microorganisms (FEM) and rice fertiliser produced increases of 627.3%, 522.6%, 313.0%, 334.8% and 226.1% respectively. Soil NPK cobtent and PH after treatment showed that FEM recorded 43 mg/kg nitrogen, 81 mg/kg phosphorus, 140 mg/kg potassium and pH 7.0. These findings show that the potential of organic and fermented treatments for plant-growth applications. Therefore, our product Or-Fer combines food-waste valorisation, natural fermentation and sustainable plant cultivation which will lead to contributing circular economy practices and SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production.