A partnership between the University of South Florida St. Petersburg and the City of St. Petersburg has brought an industrial-sized composter to campus to process food waste and produce nutrient-rich compost for the community. The Greencycle composting initiative’s aim is to redirect tons of food waste each year from landfills, incinerators and sewage systems while creating compost for community gardens, urban farms and landscaping.
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.
“This project has all the elements of what makes a university important to a community,” said Thomas Smith, USF St. Petersburg interim regional chancellor. “It is developing vital partnerships to enhance our collective impact, providing research and entrepreneurship opportunities for our students, and will lead to positive benefits for our environment and the region we serve.”