This fall, welcome gifts for students moving into campus apartments included biodegradable compost bags. The bags are part of a new phase of UB鈥檚 organics collection program, which is designed to divert on-campus organic waste from landfills, where it would otherwise produce harmful greenhouse gases. Instead, food waste from campus dining halls 鈥� and now apartments 鈥� is collected, processed and turned into compost, animal feed and renewable energy.
UB has been capturing and diverting pre-consumer organics 鈥� scraps from food preparation and any food that is no longer safe to serve due to time or temperature concerns 鈥� from campus and residential dining operations for more than 15 years.
鈥淐omposting food waste rather than sending it to a landfill for disposal significantly decreases methane emissions and ultimately generates microbe-rich soil as an end product,鈥� explains Erin Moscati, UB鈥檚 zero waste manager.
鈥淧articipating in the organics collection program is a meaningful way to reduce individual waste,鈥� Moscati says, but notes that planning ahead is the most important part of avoiding food waste.