Collecting Food Waste in a Resident Dining Hall

Collecting food waste in a university dining hall does not have to be sloppy, ugly or an "after thought".  When UVM was renovating the Cook Commons dining hall in 2007, the architects worked with UVM Recycling and Dining Services to come up with this design.  The goal was to have students scrape their food leftovers directly into the same cart that gets wheeled to the loading dock...and to not have dining area staff transfer heavy food waste from one container to another.


There was a great deal of debate about the "height" of the cabinet. Cabinet had to be tall enough to slide a cart under it, but also ADA-compliant. Thus, one cabinet on the far left is a lower height.

Food waste is collected in a 32-gallon cart that is wheeled directly to the loading dock. Carts are lined with a bio-degradable liner. The architect designed a "slant top" counter. (Something about a "visual clue")

The inside wall of the cabinet is made of a plastic laminate which is easily washed down.  Yes the insides get a bit yucky, but this is hidden from the customer's view.



The opening of the countertop is lined with a stainless steel collar, to help direct food "downward" and into the cart.


The counter top is made of sturdy Corian. And permanent signage was installed.


Students can easily scrape their food leftovers into one of the counter-top openings.

Admittedly, the counter height works better for taller people. In hindsight, we could have lowered the entire counter by 3" and still had enough clearance to slide the wheel carts underneath.



The same dining facility is now "Tray Free" so students place their empty plates directly on the conveyor that heads into the dishwasher room.