Scraps of food at UB will no longer go to waste with the Campus Dining and Shops' (CDS) new program to recycle kitchen scraps.
This year, eight on-campus CDS kitchens will participate in the new UB Compost Program. CDS plans to collect more than five tons of compost with this year's expansion of the program, according to Ray Kohl, CDS marketing manager.
"Last year from Campus Dining and Shops there was five tons of food waste that went into the compost site. These are the food scraps from the production of food and things like that, not scraps from the students," Kohl said.
The Goodyear Hall Dining Center and the Harriman Caf?(c) facilities are two additions to the program, according to Kohl. Fruit and vegetable scraps, and other natural waste will be collected in special program bins. Collection of these bins will happen three times a week from CDS kitchen locations.
"The kitchen waste and scraps are taken to compost sites where they are blended and mixed with university yard waste, leaves, and things like that," he said. "They are combined, mixed and turned frequently to aerate it to make sure the materials are decomposing to be turned into soil and dirt products."
Popular student dining areas including Putnam's Food Court and Ellicott Food Court will recycle kitchen scraps with the program. The current program will solely collect scraps from kitchen food production.
"It's not coming from the students as of yet. That may be something that they are looking to do down the road. I think UB Green would spearhead that with Campus Dining and Shops," Kohl said.
The new program will create mulch and soil for the university to use. According to Kohl, the benefits of the expanded compost program are twofold - monetary and environmental.
"By creating their own mulch and their own soil, they don't have to purchase it from an outside source," he said. "It's a benefit to the university and to the community itself that waste is not being sent to landfills and taking up landfill space."
CDS, UB Green, and University Facilities are working together to promote sustainability.
"It is a big push the university has in creating less waste and recycling throughout the university," Kohl said.
Another part of the green initiative is the test-pilot reusable tray program introduced at Red Jacket Dining Hall last week. CDS plans to launch the program throughout the campus to lessen the amount of Styrofoam waste.
"And very similar to our reusable mug program we are working on a program right now for students that are interested to use reusable trays instead of using Styrofoam containers," Kohl said.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
