The Weekly ComPOSTer (4/10): Tiger Chef Challenge Composting

Hi all,

Last week we teamed up with Campus Dining to collect compostable material at our largest event to date – the Tiger Chef Challenge, which featured a Food Expo with complimentary food samples while student teams competed in an Iron Chef-like culinary challenge to see who could create the best plant-based entrée with the day’s secret ingredient (jackfruit).

Check out the photo essay below to learn about the process from collection to compost!

[At the event each compost bin had a sign picturing the acceptable items -food scraps, napkins, bamboo sampling plates]

[To prevent contamination, each resource recovery area was staffed by a student or staff member directing attendees on how to properly sort their items into either compost, landfill, recycling, or liquids]

[At the end of the event, Sanitation staff transported the 12 full totes to our facility. All together we recovered 154 lbs. of compostable material. Since the majority of the contents comprised of bamboo plates, we included this material as part of our weight total in the bulking agent/carbon source category because bamboo plates are essentially plant fibers just steam pressed together]

[Next we dumped the contents of the totes into the hopper via the lifter and the material was processed smoothly, needing only a few swings from the agitation arm to move material so that it could reach the cutting blades of the shredder. The shredded pieces then traveled up the auger via a screw conveyor and were emptied into the vessel]

[A few of the larger pieces that were not completely shredded by the cutting blades passed through after 4 days and ended in the compost that was off-loaded. We will continue to run these pieces back through the shredder so that they eventually break into smaller, more unidentifiable pieces. They will then finish biodegrading when applied to campus soils.]

Weekly Data: 3/29 – 4/4

We started to off-load compost again for the first time since before Spring Break. We are also starting to experience greater usage across the academic/residential building collection bins as campus awareness increases.

	Total Food	Campus Center/Cafes	Academic/Residential Buildings	Wood shavings (BA/CS)	% BA/CS	Compost Off-loaded	GHG Emissions Saved (MTCO2eq)
Week Totals (lbs.)	3,327	3,207	120	1,126	34%	2,000
CUMULATIVE (lbs)	65,375	64,956	419	20,134	31%	55,500	19