Kieran Coffey and Fiona Kelleher, the co-founders of Cork-based waste-to-energy group MyGug, have been chosen as The Irish Times Business People of the Month for November, an award run in association with Bank of Ireland.
MyGug is an egg-shaped anaerobic digester that turns food waste into renewable energy and fertiliser. The company won the sustainability category at The Irish Times Innovation Awards last month.
The application involves dried bacteria being used to start the breakdown process and once the waste is macerated it flows into a storage tank. The end products are biogas and liquid plant feed. The feed can then be used to enrich soil while a small pump pressurises the gas for use in heating or cooking.
The system can be remotely controlled by an app, and 1.5kg of food waste produces roughly 1.5l of bio fertiliser and one to two hours of cooking time.
The anaerobic digester is aimed at small food businesses, restaurants, home kitchens and schools, with a view to turning food waste into renewable energy and fertiliser.
The husband-and-wife team launched MyGug in February 2022 following four years’ development and an investment of €250,000, which was largely funded by the founders with support from Local Enterprise Office Cork North and West. The egg-shaped digester was designed by Coffey, who is a mechanical and environmental engineer, comes in various sizes and can be used to dispose of 99.9 per cent of food waste excluding bones and hard stones.
