Hotel ICON Turns Food Waste to Water, to be used to Irrigate Its Vertical Gardens

A trendsetter in the travel industry with a strong dedication to environmental practices, Hotel ICON will be the first in Asia to implement ORCA (Organic Refuse Conversion Alternative) technology that turns food waste into water. The water created using this unique process will be used to irrigate part of the hotel’s stunning vertical garden, designed by renowned French botanist Patrick Blanc. 

Comprised of 8,603 plants of 71 species, the indoor vertical garden is the largest in Asia and provides a source of fresh pure oxygen for guests and diners in the city’s busy metropolis. Blanc is currently working with the hotel’s engineering team to receive its water and nutrients from the output of the ORCA machine.

ORCA’s sustainable technology is housed in a stainless-steel container, with a door on the top which employees open to throw food waste inside. Within the container, ORCA's proprietary, natural Microorganism solution works with water and recycled plastic Bio Chips to quickly break down the waste. Through a process called “aerobic digestion”, the ORCA technology constantly churns all this material, adding oxygen accelerating the time it takes to transform the food waste into earth-friendly water.

With the implementation of ORCA, Hotel ICON will divert 285 tonnes of food waste per year from landfills, recycle 135,000 litres of water per year, and reduce garbage truck diesel fuel usage and its CO2 emissions.