MyGug - the startup that's turning food waste into energy

by Startacus Admin
Cork-based agritech startup MyGug and its innovative and climate-friendly solution to the challenge of food waste.
As a society, we are becoming more and more environmentally conscious, and taking more care in sorting the things we throw away into what can be recycled, what can be taken to a charity shop, what could be upcycled, perhaps, etc. But something that people have always been conscious of is food waste. Granted, this has traditionally been due to wasted food equaling wasted money, but we’re now also more conscious that wasted food equals a greater contribution to emissions from garbage collection vehicles, landfills, and/or other industrial means of waste disposal. Even putting your food waste into composting creates some methane and carbon dioxide, although there are methods of doing so that keep these to a minimum. So what can be done to simultaneously deal with food waste and the emissions that it causes?
Cork-based agritech startup MyGug has an innovative solution to not only deal with this issue, but to make something valuable out of it. MyGug is a micro-scale anaerobic digester capable of taking food waste and turning it into both organic fertiliser and renewable gas for cooking. Food waste goes into a food disposal inlet much like we see in American kitchen sinks, where it is macerated and then fed into the micro-scale anaerobic digester, which sits outside. Here, biogas is produced, filtered, and stored, ready to be pumped back into the building and burned as fuel for cooking. In addition, a nutrient-rich fertiliser is produced for your plants, ensuring less waste from your waste, and savings on plant-feed.
MyGug works in extreme cold and extreme hot temperatures, meaning it is a viable solution anywhere in the world. It’s an automated system that simply runs, but it comes with an app that allows you to monitor it and the data it produces about its output.
In October, MyGug was one of 12 startups to be selected for the AgTechUCD Innovation Centre's second accelerator programme. This 12-week programme addressing the needs faced by the agritech and agrifood sectors is focused on fast-tracking business development and leadership skills, and providing participants with the support and guidance needed to expand in Ireland and internationally.
With energy prices rapidly increasing at the moment, the savings that can be made by turning your food waste into energy to cook could be invaluable.
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Published on: 12th December 2022
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