A new partnership between University of South Florida  St. Petersburg and the City of St. Petersburg will bring an industrial-sized composter to campus to process food waste and produce nutrient-rich compost for the community. The initiativeâs overall aim is to redirect tons of food waste each year from landfills, incinerators and sewage systems and create compost for community gardens, urban farms and landscaping. The partnership recently received a $350,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Composting and Food 91²Ö¿â Reduction program.
What will start as a sustainability project to reduce food waste from the campusâ dining facility in the first year, is expected to expand to a sustainable business that collects and processes waste from local partners and sells back compost to the community. Potential collaborators include farmers markets, restaurants and urban farms.
âWe hope to pilot a business model from this initiative, which has happened at other institutions working on food waste issues with their communities across the country,â said Susan Toler, USF St. Petersburg campus associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences who assisted in writing the grant. âThere will be opportunities for students to gain real world experience in the management and operations of a green business as well as conduct research.â The first phase of the initiative will focus on installing a rapid industrial composter that can receive 1,000 pounds of food waste per day behind the full-service dining facility on campus.