By Matthew Cimitile, University Communications and Marketing
A new partnership between USF 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 initiative’s 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 Waste Reduction program.
What will start as a sustainability project to reduce food waste from the campus’ 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.
“We 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,” said Susan Toler, USF St. Petersburg campus associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences who assisted in writing the grant. “There will be opportunities for students to gain real world experience in the management and operations of a green business as well as conduct research.”
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.
Working with USF Dining and Facility Services, food preparation waste and scraps left on plates will be fed into the composter to process into soil. The initial compost generated will then be used by the university’s grounds crew for landscaping needs on the 52-acre campus, reducing both fertilizer costs for the campus and greenhouse gas emissions.
After this trial phase, the operation will expand in the second year to take in food waste from local partners. Conversations have already begun with the Saturday Morning Market and 15th Street Farm as potential collaborators.
Potential collaborators on this composting initiative could include restaurants, urban farms and farmers markets such as the Saturday Morning Market.
City and university officials envision students working for the food waste initiative, bringing compost to the Saturday Morning Market to sell to farmers and the public, while also collecting food waste at the market to feed the composter.
“The City of St. Petersburg is honored to participate and contribute to a program that actively reduces air pollution, fosters industry growth and creates opportunities for our residents and students,” said Maeven Rogers, City of St. Petersburg sustainability and resiliency director. “Food waste is a resource that can save money and create economic opportunities by introducing new industries and a workforce. Innovative efforts such as this will also enhance our region’s environmental resiliency.”
Along with the $350,000 federal grant, the initiative is also supported by $100,000 from the USF St. Petersburg Student Green Energy Fund, which funds sustainability initiatives and alternative energy projects that benefit the campus, and a generous $50,000 gift from Duke Energy.
“Duke Energy proudly supports student researchers at USF St. Pete as they pilot solutions to challenges in St. Petersburg that benefit the community right now and into the future,” said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president, a member of the USF Board of Trustees and chair of the USF St. Petersburg Campus Board.
The funds will go towards the purchase of an industrial-sized composter, hiring a sustainability manager to oversee the business startup, employing several student workers to operate the composter and transportation for distributing compost across the city.
The grant was written by Toler, Chemistry Professor of Instruction John Osegovic and Environmental Science and Sustainability Studies Professor of Instruction Jim Ivey, in collaboration with the City. It was informed by a business plan developed by Frank Nunez, a program planner with USF’s Nault Center for Entrepreneurship.
“Success for this initiative is producing a sustainable and growing business operation that reduces food waste and greenhouse gas emissions, supports local farming while increasing food security and sovereignty, and educates the community and students on the health and social benefits of reducing food waste through composting,” Osegovic said.
For local businesses and organizations interested in collaborating on this composting initiative, please reach out to Caryn Nesmith, USF St. Petersburg director of community relations.