Coastal Carolina University will begin a food-waste composting program at two of its dining halls this fall. The new program was developed by the TD Campus and Community Initiative and Aramark, CCU's food service provider, in partnership with SMART Recycling.

The food waste composting will take place in the back kitchen areas of Chauncey's Choice and Hicks Dining Hall. Aramark staff will help separate and collect the compostable material from meals, including all post-consumer food scraps, processed foods, dairy products, fruits and vegetable scraps, cooked meats, as well as paper napkins. SMART Recycling will haul the food waste material from the dining halls to the Horry County Solid Waste Authority's compost site on S.C. 90 in Conway.

The goal of the composting program is to not only reduce CCU's trash bill, but to capture 70 percent of the compostable material from these two dining halls, which is estimated to total more than 35,000 pounds of material per month. Food waste composting will significantly decrease the amount of waste going into the landfill, and will increase the benefits of composting for the local community.

"After piloting the food waste composting behind the scenes with Aramark, we hope to introduce this composting opportunity to the public in the future," said Jennifer Sellers, CCU sustainability coordinator for the TD Campus and Community Sustainability Initiative. "Food can be a prevalent waste issue as it takes up substantial space in the landfill. We see composting as a sustainable method to reduce this waste."