Organics Collection Pilot

The University at Buffalo is expanding its organics collection services across campus to help achieve climate neutrality and zero waste goals by 2030. This organics collection pilot program will explore effective ways for students to capture and divert organic waste from the trash in their living environments. The initiative is a collaboration between UB Sustainability, Campus Living, and Facilities.

FAQs

One goal is to teach students the importance of keeping food waste and other organics out of the trash and reduce their personal carbon impact.
UB is committed to providing students with opportunities to engage in sustainable behaviors and integrate sustainability into the fabric of campus culture. As an institution we want to reach climate neutral by 2030, and it starts with you!

Residents of South Lake Village 208-220 and 205 are currently enrolled in the first phase of our organics collection pilot.
Residents will be provided with instructions and supplies to collect food scraps and other organic materials.

You can collect your food scraps and organic waste material from your apartment kitchen. You can then place these items in your Bag to Earth organics collection bag. Once the bag is full you can take it to your closest trash corral (where you typically take your trash and recycling) and place the bag in the orange organics bin!

Your organics will be sent to Natural Upcycling, and “fed” to an anaerobic digester, where your food scraps will be turned into energy and sludge that will then be composted right here in Buffalo at Buffalo River Compost.

Find out how you can get involved with sustainability efforts on campus!

You should keep each bag for a week. If you have filled it sooner, you should take your bag to the orange bin in the disposal corral and discard as usual. Click here for tips

Yes! BPI-certified, compostable take-out containers are allowed in the orange organics bin.
If you aren't sure if your container is compostable, please place it in the trash to help avoid contaminating the organics bin.

UB collects organics in all dining facilities behind the scenes including kitchen scraps and cuttings and food that is not able to be recovered.
In C3, Governors, and Main Street Dining Halls there is an organics collection stream that food waste is placed into.
In One World Cafe there are organics collection bins at each ROT (Recycling, Organics, Trash) stations within the facility.

UB’s robust Climate Action Plan is in place with a strategic plan to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the university.
Please check out the Zero Waste Strategic Plan for more information!