New manager seeks to reduce food waste

About 35 percent of all waste generated on campus is food waste.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Dan Kuzma thinks Youngstown State University can eliminate sending between 10 and 15 tons of food waste to a landfill every year by composting discarded food.
Kuzma, a spring 2004 YSU graduate from Austintown with a degree in environmental studies, was hired to serve as manager of the university's recycling and reuse program, succeeding Jim Petuch who left the university to become director of the Mahoning County Recycling Division.
Kuzma's been involved in the YSU program since 2001 when he came on board as a student-worker while earning his undergraduate degree.
"I thought this would be a good program to implement," he said, referring to his plan to do something with food that is just being thrown in the trash.
All discarded food from the university now gets taken to a landfill, Kuzma said, noting that about 35 percent of total campus waste is food waste.
YSU already runs a composting program for plant material, and Kuzma said he's seeking a $5,000 grant from the Mahoning County Solid Waste Management District to launch a pilot food-recycling program at Christman Dining Commons dining hall.
How it works
Food composting works basically the same as plant material composting.
Kuzma said the university will buy a self-contained composting unit capable of holding up to 4,000 pounds of material. It is designed to be rodent-proof and contain any smell.
Discarded food is placed inside, along with a bulking agent such as sawdust, and an automatic auger system regularly churns the material to aid in the decomposition process.
The compost automatically moves to the bottom of the unit for removal through a chute, and the material will be used for campus landscaping, Kuzma said.
The dining hall discards between 10 and 15 tons of food waste annually, he said, noting that he would like to have the composting program ready to go this fall.
"We hope to be one of the first education institutions to compost food waste," he said.
Overall, the campus goal is to divert 430 tons of recyclable, reusable and compostable material from the landfill in 2006, Kuzma said.
It's a reachable goal.
YSU was able to divert 414 tons of material from going to a landfill in 2005, up from 377 tons in 2004, Kuzma said.
Re:CREATE effort
The university launched a re:CREATE effort in the late 1990s, and another YSU graduate, Sara Ellis of Boardman who also earned her degree in environmental studies in spring 2004, was hired in November as its first full-time manager.
It's an environmental reuse program that basically gathers free materials and gives it to those who can use it, rather than see it end up in a landfill.
Some items are given only to educators and nonprofit groups, but much of the material is available to the public.
It deals primarily with YSU surplus furniture and items that people on campus no longer use, but it offers a long list of available materials, ranging from things like plastic grocery store bags to Christmas decorations and paint.
It also has a "want list" of items that people are looking for, Ellis said, explaining that re:CREATE serves as a middleman in that situation, helping to find materials that people and organizations want.
Anyone wanting to find out what is available or to make a contribution should call Ellis at (330) 941-2238.
Re:CREATE has launched a new community reuse program commonly referred to as "Dump and Runs," inspired by the on-campus practice of students getting rid of unwanted items at the end of the semester.
The first community event was held in Lake Milton in October, and one is planned for Boardman on April 29 and a second in Lake Milton on May 20, Ellis said.
Anyone can bring unwanted but still usable items to the event to be donated to charity, she said.
A business reuse program, "The Mahoning Valley Materials Exchange," is being restarted, perhaps as early as this spring, Ellis said.
All of those efforts are geared to reducing the amount of material going into landfills, she said.
University's goal
Kuzma said the university hopes to achieve a 35 percent recycling rate this year. The campus hit the 30 percent mark in 2005, he said.
Reaching the higher level will require increased campus awareness of available recycling opportunities through creative events and promotions, he said.
Toward that end, the department started a "Get Caught Green-Handed" campaign in February to sporadically catch people recycling on campus and give them a reward of a Green Team lunch bag made from 100 percent recycled materials, Kuzma said.
They handed out 25 of the lunch bags.
YSU competed in a nationwide college and university recycling competition, Recyclemania, last year and is involved in the 2006 version now. YSU came in 13th last year, Kuzma said.
Recyclemania stated in 2001 with just two Ohio schools -- Miami University in Oxford and Ohio University in Athens.
This year, there are 93 schools from 33 states participating.
gwin@vindy.com