Apparatus, system and method for automated food waste processing

An automated food waste processing system, the system comprising:

• an enclosure secured to prevent unauthorized access to contents contained therein;
• and
• a food waste processing system housed within the enclosure, the food waste processing system including:
• an anaerobic digester having an input configured to receive a bio-degradable input stream generated from a food waste input stream and an output configured to discharge a liquid fertilizer generated by the anaerobic digester from the bio-degradable input stream;
• an imaging system configured to automatically capture a plurality of images of the food waste input stream;
• a processing system configured to automatically process the plurality of images to identify types of fruits and types of vegetables included in the food waste input stream and to automatically determine a quantity of at least one of a type of fruit and/or a type of vegetable included in the food waste input stream;
• a port accessible at an exterior of the enclosure, the port configured to allow personnel untrained in an operation of the food waste processing system to deposit the food waste input stream from a location outside of the enclosure;
• a fertilizer tank configured to hold the liquid fertilizer, the fertilizer tank including an input coupled to the output of the anaerobic digester and an output;
• and
• a liquid fertilizer dispensing device coupled to the output of the fertilizer tank, the liquid fertilizer dispensing device accessible at the exterior of the enclosure, the liquid fertilizer dispensing device configured to allow personnel untrained in the operation of the food waste processing system to remove liquid fertilizer from the food waste processing system from a location outside of the enclosure.

An automated food waste processing system, the system comprising:

• an enclosure secured to prevent unauthorized access to contents contained therein;
• and
• a food waste processing system housed within the enclosure, the food waste processing system including:
• an anaerobic digester having an input configured to receive a bio-degradable input stream generated from a food waste input stream and an output configured to discharge a liquid fertilizer generated by the anaerobic digester from the bio-degradable input stream;
• an imaging system configured to automatically capture a plurality of images of the food waste input stream;
• a processing system configured to automatically process the plurality of images to identify types of fruits and types of vegetables included in the food waste input stream and to automatically determine a quantity of at least one of a type of fruit and/or a type of vegetable included in the food waste input stream;
• a port accessible at an exterior of the enclosure, the port configured to allow a deposit of the food waste input stream from a location outside of the enclosure;
• a fertilizer tank configured to hold the liquid fertilizer, the fertilizer tank including an input coupled to the output of the anaerobic digester and an output;
• and
• a liquid fertilizer dispensing device coupled to the output of the fertilizer tank, the liquid fertilizer dispensing device configured to allow a removal of liquid fertilizer from the food waste processing system.