Feed The Beast: Organic Waste Collection in a Campus Food Court

1. . Feed The Beast: Organic Waste Collection in a Campus Food Court Ashley Kraus & Dr. Michael Lizotte, Sustainability Office, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh • Step 2: Logistics of Implementation • Partnered with Sodexo, the official food service contractor for UWO, Reeve Union and University Dining • Ordered the bins and garbage collection carts • Ordered biodegradable bags which lined the bins (box 3) • Figured the logistics of transporting the waste • Step 3: Compostable Waste Collection • Waste was separated from February 29th to May 11thinto six Beast-themed containers, next to every trash and recycling bin • Daily total weight measured; contamination sorted manually and weighed • Organic waste was transported 1 mile from main campus to the biodigester • Step 4: Results • There was no change in the amount of organic waste collected or contamination levels through out the semester (box 4) • Few recyclable bottles and cans were found in the Beasts (15 lbs altogether) • Common contaminants were aluminum pasta pans, plastic-basedcups and covers, straws, utensils, and wrappers • Amount of waste that went to the biodigester was an insignificant amount of what it actually consumed through out the year Introduction: In 2012 UWO received funding through a grant from the State Energy Office. The grant was used to implement a program called Feed the Beast. Feed the Beast was designed so that UW Oshkosh’s Student Union, Reeve Union, could become a center for the campus’s first organic waste separation bins. The organic matter that was separated was transported to the campus’s waste-to-energy biodigester(box 1). • Step 1: Marketing and Educating • Partnered with Reeve Marketing • Named the campaign and designed the Beast (box 2) • Facebook (FeedtheBeastInReeveDining) • Promotional video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBjXv2T5hQ8) • Tabled in student union to collect pledges and promote with pins, t-shirts, pledges, informational hand outs, games , and coupons from local businesses • Video screens and table tents • Articles in UWO student newspaper • Hung poster through out campus Box 2 Box 3:Biodegradable? Digestable? Compostable? The UW Oshkosh biodigester is anaerobic, so it only has bacteria to decompose organic matter (no fungi, worms, insects, etc.). Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are a family of bioplastics that can be made from plants (e.g. corn) by bacteria, and can be completely decomposed by bacteria alone. Tellus/Metabolix donated “Mirel” PHA, and Cortec donated factory time to convert it into 40-gal. trash bags. No residue from Mirel PHA bags was found in the biodigester after the 28 day cycle. Plastics labeled compostable or biodegradable do not breakdown in the dark anaerobic digester conditions. The biodigester could also accept compostable bags (e.g. PLA) since the solids from the plant eventually go to a commercial composter. Box 1: Dry Fermentation Anaerobic Biodigester. Built in 2011, first in the western hemisphere. Uses microorganisms to decompose 6,000 tons of organic matter per year in an oxygen free environment. Biogas produced, mostly methane, is burned to create about 8% of campus electricity. Solids (undigested organic matter) go to a commercial composter or are worked into soil. Nearby university and city buildings are studying the possibility of using waste heat from the generator. Box 4: Waste Sort Results. Top graph is total compostables per day collected in Reeve Union (median = 16 lbs/day). Lower graph is contamination as a percent of total waste collected in the Beast containers (median = 29%). The gap in March is Spring Break week. Contacts: Ashley Kraus: krausa77@uwosh.edu Mike Lizotte: lizotte@uwosh.edu