Virginia Tech
OP-T2-8: PostConsumer Food Waste Composting

Our post-consumer composting program began in October of 2009 with Owens Food Court. The Sustainability Coordinator and composting company representatives trained staff in this location in order to ensure that compost would be sorted effectively. Since then, D2, Au Bon Pain (ABP) Squires, West End Market, and ABP GLC have joined the program (plates on the tray return will be scraped and sorted back of the house). All of our compost, pre and post-consumer, is picked up and processed by a local family operation located just miles away in Riner, VA. Starting in 2012, four to six three-compartment waste stations will be in our Deet’s Place, Hokie Grill, and ABP locations. These stations will have student-sorted post-consumer composting for the first time ever on campus. These stations were paid for and won by a grant in tandem with the Environmental Coalition at Virginia Tech. When Turner Place opened in August 2012, similar Waste Stations were in place with options for compost, recyclables, and landfill. The Fall 2012 semester and first part of spring 2013 semester have served as a training period for students to learn how to sort waste properly. Moving forward, these waste stations will require ongoing training and outreach to ensure as little contamination as possible. For an article about Dining Service’s composting program please see: http://blogs.roanoke.com/ticker/2011/04/12/virginia-tech-cuts-waste-with-dining-services-composting-program/ For more information about the company that processes Virginia Tech’s compostable material please see: http://www.poplarmanorenterprises.com/ For a complete list of Virginia Tech’s Dining Centers please see: http://www.studentprograms.vt.edu/dining/diningcenters.php For the Environmental Coalition’s website please see: http://www.theecvt.com