How to build a composting program for your institution. Presented by Amy Lipman of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for Triumvirate Environmental's roundtable on the Massachusetts food waste ban.

1. 1
So You Want to Build a Composting
Program?
May 28, 2014
A teaching hospital of
Harvard Medical School

2.  Introduction to BIDMC
 Overview of BIDMC and its sustainability
program
 Identify who is in the room
 An overview of our composting program
 Q&A
Agenda
A teaching hospital of
Harvard Medical School1

3. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Harvard teaching hospital
621 beds
190 research labs
Level 1 Trauma Center
BIDMC’s Green History
Began holding an annual sustainability fair 16 years ago
Healthy Work/Healthy Home
Created a sustainability strategic plan and committee in
2008
Created a full-time sustainability position in 2009
Introductions
Our Hospital
A teaching hospital of
Harvard Medical School3

4. BIDMC’S Sustainability Program
A teaching hospital of
Harvard Medical School2
• Goal 1: Waste Management
 Reduce, Reuse and Recycle more of our waste
• Goal 2: Conserve Natural Resources
 Energy and water conservation
 Fuel reduction
 Meat consumption reduction
• Goal 3: Improve measurement and reduction of Environmental
Hazards
 Eliminating hospital products made with hazardous chemicals
 Finding less toxic substitutes for current toxic chemicals
 Minimizing the impact of drugs and drug waste
• Goal 4: Promote Environmental Awareness & Action
• Goal 5: Sustain our Gains

5. Who are the Participants?
Who is in the room:
Who has already started composting?
As you think about starting, what are you most worried about?
Logistics?
Staff buy-in?
Cost?
Time commitment/resources to get it rolled out?
Fear of change, in general?
Employee/student buy-in?
Pests and smells?
Anything else?
 Who has been wanting to compost for awhile and finds the ban helpful for
pushing the issue in their institution?
 Who has never given composting a second thought and is now worried about
the ban?
Schools? Biotech? Other?Hospitals?

6. Locations Estimated
Annual Tonnage
Program? Issues
Cafeteria Customers 18-20 Capturing 6-9
tons per year.
Contamination. Not enough disposable compostable
items available to enable a single dump into the
compost bucket.
Patient Trays/
Kitchen Production
(including catering)
140 Capturing about
65-75 tons per
year.
• Contamination- Detail orientation wasn’t a job
requirement for most kitchen staff.
• Workload- Separating compostable items adds an
additional step while stripping trays or cleaning.
Catered events TBD Not Yet Logistics and workload
Employees where
they work/eat
TBD Not Yet Logistics and workload
• Would need over 150 small collection sites picked
up daily.
Yard Waste 5-10 Capturing about
5 tons per year.
Securing the dumpster to ensure it isn’t used by the
neighbors for trash.
Animal Bedding At least 25 Not yet Safety of material, Rodent-safe collection options
At an academic medical center, organic materials have at least 6 distinct points of
generation. They vary in size and ease of collection.
Overview
Q: What compost-generating areas of your institution are you hoping to focus
on initially?

7. Overcoming Obstacles
How will the waste be collected?
How is waste stored for pickup?
Is hospital food waste safe to
compost?
How do you train your staff?
How do you train your
community?
Logistics
Quality Control/Training
Safety
 Compostable bags
 Dedicated barrels
 Refrigerated storage unit with dock accessibility
 Compost is heated high enough to kill patient diseases
The same way you train them to do anything new:
 Let them design the system
 Set goals and monitor data
Cost
Does it cost more to compost?
 Vendor rates are a little less than the trash disposal.
Minimum weight requirements could increase price
 The bags are more expensive
 Compostable disposables are more expensive. Cost was
passed on to the customer
 Clear signage at the barrels and the tables
 Barrel-side training
 Goal: a single dump into the compost bin as possible
Q: This is how we solved some of
these problems. What are some
other ways you are hoping to solve
these problems?

8.  The kitchen is the easiest place to start, particularly if the employees
understand the change is required by law. It also has the largest impact.
 The system runs better if employees design it themselves
 Compost training needs to be included when new staff arrive
 Numbers should be continually monitored to ensure program stays effective.
 Yard waste is easy. In urban areas, the impact is small.
 Front of the house requires both clear signage and constant in-person
education.
 People understand recycling. Composting confuses them
 Don’t start until you have all your compostable products stocked. Then
minimize product changes.
 People who really want to compost tend to err on the side of contaminating
the bins.
 Every new employee is a potentially confused composter. New employees
arrive weekly
 Corn based plastics look the same PET.
 The program is too complicated for simple signage. The motivated will read a
clear sign.
Lessons Learned
Q: Employee training can be time and labor intensive. Who, in your institution, are
you hoping will do this work?

10. 0
5
10
15
20
25
FY11
Q1
FY11
Q2
FY11
Q3
FY11
Q4
FY12
Q1
FY12
Q2
FY12
Q3
FY12
Q4
FY13
Q1
FY13
Q2
FY13
Q3
Y13
Q4
FY14
Q1
FY14
Q2
TonsofCompost
East Campus
Cafeteria
Composting
Added West
Campus
Cafeteria
Composting
Added East
Campus Tray
Composting
Added West
Campus Tray
Composting
East
Campus
Freezer
Repair
Ongoing programs still require careful ongoing monitoring and
troubleshooting
Lessons Learned
Q: What are some strategies
you are hoping to use to ensure
sustained participation?