Existing:

In the past decade, the food system at Lafayette has expanded to include LaFarm, located 3 miles off campus at Metzgar Fields.  From its beginnings in 2009, LaFarm has expanded and enhanced the quality and quantity of food produced.  The presence of LaFarm offers further opportunities for waste reduction by providing a destination for composted food.  Between 2014 and 2015, LaFarm applied approximately 30,000 pounds of college-made compost to its soil (Edmonds, 2015).  However, since the beginning of the composting initiative at Lafayette in 2007, sustaining a compost system on campus has proved difficult.  The compost system began as a research opportunity and feasibility study instigated by student interest and supported by Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) professor Arthur Kney (Dorn et al., 2013).  In 2009, with continued student research, a funds awarded by the Department of Environmental Protection and matched by Lafayette’s administration, and an outside donor, the College purchased two Earth tubs (Dorn et al., 2013).  A sheltered area was built by the Hummel Lumber site, with rain barrels and scales available for testing and maintenance (A. Kney, personal communication, April 21, 2017).

At the beginning of composting operations, labor was divided between students and Sodexo, the dining services provider at the time (A. Kney, personal communication, April 21, 2017).  While initial support from Dining Services, the administration, and student organizations allowed the program to begin, difficulties developed with plans for expansion and concerns over long-term maintenance.  Stacy Dorn ‘12 with the support of Professor Kney, worked to develop a detailed document that provided instructions for Plant Operations, who would assume responsibility for the compost labor (Dorn et al., 2013).  The administration sanctioned two Plant Operations employees to maintain compost operations for 45 minutes each day.  However, the reliance on different actors in the system and failure to perform operations led to breakdowns in the system that halted composting for weeks at a time.  Student volunteers were also difficult to maintain on a regular basis (A. Kney, personal communication, April 21, 2017).

Further difficulties stemmed from the operation’s reliance on pulpers.  Pulpers are used to compress food waste, reducing the volume of waste and the time to compost.  The decision to use pulpers was based on research gathered from other schools and the limited space provided by the 2 Earth tubs.  The choice of pulpers purchased, ultimately chosen by Sodexo for their inexpensive price, has led to continued failures due to the high volume of food waste being processed.  A recent discovery that the pulpers leave plastics in the compost which rise to the surface of the soil has led to further discussion about their use (A. Kney, personal communication, April 21, 2017).

Future:

New challenges have emerged with recent construction at the Hummel lumber site necessitating a new location for compost, a change in landscape services to an outside provider, and a lack of financial resources.  Professor Kney also acknowledges the low economic incentive for implementing and maintaining a compost system (personal communication, April 21, 2017).  In order for operations at Lafayette to resume, there must therefore be significant demand at a student level with support from the Sustainability Office.  The College must also find a new site for composting, with the recognition of the logistics involved in moving operations to LaFarm.  If the operation is to continue using pulpers, investing in new, hardier models will be necessary to accommodate volume.  The College must also negotiate its contracts with landscape services, in order to redistribute responsibility from students to staff, and with Bon Appetit, to establish accountability.

While an internal compost system would play a significant role in waste reduction, Professor Kney suggests looking towards initiatives within the broader Easton Community as another outlet for food waste.  Hayes and Sawyer, an engineering firm working with the Easton Waste Water Treatment Plant, is conducting research to investigate how a high strength digester could be used with solid waste and food waste to power the treatment plant (A. Kney, personal communication, April 21, 2017).  While compost offers limited economic opportunity, this project incentivizes the reduction of food waste through a reduction in energy costs.  Kney sees this as an opportunity for Lafayette in the future.  However, in terms of tightening the food loop at Lafayette and considering the environmental benefits of composting, this alternative should not be viewed as an isolated solution.