Luke Gregory designed the Urban Composter while studying Industrial Design at university. Luke is passionate about the environment and wanted an easy way to stop food scraps going into landfill. He looked into Bokashi composting – and even tried it, but found the bokashi bran hard to manage and discovered that it attracted mice and other pests.
He also didn’t like the fact that most bokashi systems aren’t where you need them. Because they attract flies, most people don’t want bokashi composting systems in their kitchen, near food. The problem was this: people won’t compost if it’s too difficult. Luke felt that if people could compost kitchen scraps in their kitchen, using a simple system, more people would do it.
Luke researched an entirely new anaerobic composting method that didn’t require messy bokashi bran and discovered that he could use a citrus-based spray with Effective Micro-organisms to start the composting process.
Luke then used his design skills to build a stylish prototype of a kitchen composting bin that would look great in his kitchen. A good seal on the bucket’s lid was essential – this would make sure that flies and rodents stayed out. He purposely focused on a sleek design that would conveniently fit in tight spaces, like under the kitchen sink. Luke built in a tap for draining bokashi tea and a detachable handle for carrying the compost pulp to the garden. His design incorporated a combination of bright and neutral colours that would match any modern decor. Other innovative design features included an internal angled base so that all liquid would drain out and there would be no need to tilt the Urban Composter when draining the tap.
In 2011 manufacturing began on the first Urban Composter Bucket.
While customers liked the style and function of the Urban Composter Bucket, there were requests for a smaller version. Customers wanted a smaller bucket that fit in tighter spaces and could fill faster. In response the Urban Composter City launched in 2013.
In 2016 manufacturing shifted to Sydney, Australia with the local production of both the Urban Composter Bucket and City Composter.
In 2019 further design improvements were made to the Urban Composter, with clips added to the side of the lid for an even tighter seal.
After years of testing we also started manufacturing the Urban Composter and City Composter using recycled plastic. The compost accelerator bottles are also now made from recycled plastic from post consumer use AND are manufactured in Australia.
Our family-owned company supports and sells product through a network of local distributors in the USA, France, Germany, Canada, Sweden, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.
The Urban Composter range is 100% Australian designed and manufactured selling in Australia and exporting to the world!
