MSU collects over 2 million pounds of food waste annually. Our current waste sorts show that about 9% of the campus waste stream is potentially compostable food waste and compostable containers. This extrapolates out to about 900,000 pounds annually spread over about 100 buildings, including residence halls and academic buildings. As you can see below, we’ve tried a couple of different pilots to collect more food waste from residence halls and apartments and will continue to try new things as these are services that Residential and Hospitality Services is willing to help pay for. Expanding composting in academic buildings, however, would require a funding source, as there would be additional costs related to education, containers, compostable bags, servicing collections containers, transportation, sorting and composting. We are regularly exploring grants and other opportunities to help make this happen.
What we’ve tried to do:
- Food waste collections in residence halls
- A drop off point
- Door-to-door collections
- Multiple pilot programs for back-of-house food waste collections at athletic events
- Piloting collections in academic offices on a partnership basis
What we currently do:
- Back-of-house food waste collection in all dining halls (much of this food is composted, with a small amount going to our anaerobic digester)
- Back-of-house collection of coffee grounds and some food waste in most convenience/coffee shops on campus
- Food waste drop off points at the Recycling Drop-off Center and at 1855 Place
- Food waste collection services at campus events upon request
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