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Penn State Intercom......January 17, 2002 University wins environmental excellence awardThe Office of Physical Plant, Housing and Food Services, and the College of Agricultural Sciences jointly were recognized recently with the Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence coordinated by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for their innovative processing of organic materials. The Organic Materials Processing and Education Center, a collaborative project among all the units, processes dining hall food waste into compost, which ends up as high-quality flower bed mulch all over the University Park campus. The Organic Materials Processing and Education Center grew from a small pilot project in one dining common to a campus-wide program that now services seven dining commons, three hospitality service units and the Bennett Family Center. Food wastes and landscape debris collected from campus are mixed with manure from the University's dairy herd to create compost which is used for landscaping, turf maintenance and research projects. During the past academic year, the center collected 340 tons of food scraps and 173 tons of leaves, which saved the University $16, 631 in avoided landfill disposal costs. Also, there is the additional benefit of free mulch. The composting center also enhances the University's teaching, research and educational outreach efforts by providing students, faculty and others the opportunity to learn about source separation, waste management and backyard composting. The project is helping the University meet the state's goal of recycling 35 percent of its waste by 2003. |