University of South Carolina
IN-3: Innovation 3

Sustainable Carolina and the Department of Environmental Health and Safety have recently partnered with the EPA to develop a functioning composting and biodiesel system on campus. Now in its first year of operations, the program has yielded exceptional results and is the first of its kind in the region. The composting program is entirely student run and collects food scrapes from all dining halls on campus. The organics are picked up by students daily and then dumped in our 5 bin composting and vermicomposting system. The food waste is mixed with leaves contributed from the campus Landscaping and Grounds crews. The finished compost is then used in the campus gardens. At the time of submission, more than 4000 lbs of food waste has been diverted from the landfill through this program. The biodiesel program is managed by both faculty, staff, and students. The program involves the use of a full-operational biodiesel trailer that is able to process used cooking oil from University operations into biodiesel, which is then used in campus fleet vehicles. The trailer is also brought out to local area K-12 schools to help demonstrate this aspect of sustainability.