36
WAYS FORWARD
The secret life of compost: How UBC’s closed-loop system tackles food waste Words by Kevin Jiang Illustration by Alex Vanderput
F
ew people give much thought to the food scraps they throw away. But for UBC’s compost system, there’s much more to organic waste than meets the eye. Since 2004, UBC has hosted a closed-loop, in-vessel composting system on campus. This means, like the “Hotel California,” most organic waste generated at UBC can never really leave; instead, it’s processed right on campus into compost for use by the landscaping department.
Unfortunately, the missorting of waste and plastic contamination of UBC’s green bins are putting a damper on its composting efforts.
THE STRANGE AND SQUISHY STORY OF FOOD WASTE UBC hosts two composting facilities on campus: one in the south end of campus and one hidden away in the Nest. The south campus in-vessel facili-
ty can process five tonnes of organic waste daily, churning out compost ready for maturation every two weeks. It’s also the first of its kind in a Canadian university, reads the UBC Building Operations’ website. To produce compost, food and organic waste undergo a complicated journey of aeration, curing and degradation by bugs, worms and microorganisms. In my quest to unravel the secrets of compost, I spoke with Dr. Antho-
