YSU first in food composting

YOUNGSTOWN — Taking the lead among Ohio’s universities, Youngstown State University has begun test operation of a machine that will turn its cafeteria food scraps into compost to be used as fertilizer for its lawns and shrubbery.

Test operation of the machine began last week, just after YSU became the first university in the state to receive an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency license to compost cafeteria food scraps on campus.

The $10,000 machine, known as the Earth Tub, has been installed at the loading dock outside YSU’s Christman Dining Commons, which generates 10 to 15 tons of food waste annually. The composting machine is a fully enclosed drum designed to control odors and keep rodents out.

The university plans to begin regular operation of the tub, which is 4 feet high and 7 1/2 feet in diameter, when spring semester begins in January.