It started with potato peels. Sepura’s co-founder and CEO Victor Nicolov was hosting a dinner party and loaded his garbage disposal with potato peels. It didn’t go well. The disposal flung peels all over the kitchen and promptly broke. In researching a replacement, Nicolov realized the myriad problems with traditional disposals, and why they’re banned altogether in some localities. 

Thus, the idea for Sepura Home was born. From the first prototype in 2018 to its rollout in 2023, the technology has been tested, retested and tweaked, with feedback from homeowners, plumbers and municipalities.

With Sepura, users scrape food waste into the sink just like they would with a conventional disposal. But when a wireless button is pushed, the machine separates solid and liquid waste, and collects the solids for composting. There’s even a carbon filter system that reduces odours, and an LED light that indicates when it’s time to empty the bin. Sepura replaces traditional garbage disposals, which are environmentally unfriendly, and countertop bins, which can be smelly, take up counter space and require frequent emptying. 

The unit sends 99.9 per cent of food waste into the collection bin, Sepura claims, and only liquids down the drain. This makes it safe for septic systems and most local plumbing codes.

Time magazine named Sepura one of the Top 100 Inventions of 2020, which raised the Victoria-based company’s profile and recently led to a $3.7 million seed investment. Sepura is also a Douglas 10 to Watch winner.