“I mean they say it smells like a Christmas cake and I would agree, it smells nice. You see everything going in and then seeing what comes out – I think it’s 24 hours later. That’s really cool.”
Harrison Cohen, Former SU President
With a 54-acre parkland campus in Southwest London, the University of Roehampton is in a unique location. A campus, full of greenery, and just a short distance from central London. It’s an environment that lends itself perfectly to community and study. This isn’t the only unique aspect of Roehampton’s campus. In 2023, the university found an innovative closed loop solution for their used Vegware and food waste – one that smells surprisingly good. This is how they managed it.
Making waste a resource
Recognising that climate change is one of the most urgent and significant challenges of our time, the University of Roehampton has taken a number of steps to minimise their impact. With four colleges, two campuses, and four food outlets serving roughly 1500 meals a day, the University of Roehampton produced a significant amount of food and packaging waste.
The university sought ways to ensure that, when food and packaging waste were unavoidable, the resulting waste could be turned into a resource. This fit with one of their sustainability commitments, to use resources wisely. The university recognised the opportunity. By diverting used compostable packaging and food waste away from landfill, they could instead use the waste to feed the campus’ extensive greenery. The University of Roehampton contacted Vegware’s Environmental team who were able to provide expert guidance. Having discussed their options with the Environmental team, the university opted for an onsite solution. A Harp Biodigester.
What is a biodigester?
A Harp Biodigester is a perfect option for sites who want a quick turnaround for their used Vegware and food waste. The process smells like Christmas cake and only take 24 hours. Instead of compost the food waste and used Vegware is turned into a nutrient rich soil enhancer. This means that Vegware could be used on campus, disposed of with food waste, processed on campus and finally, the resulting soil enhancer could be used on the University of Roehampton’s grounds.
Compostable waste is collected – The material goes through a shredder – is added to the Biodigester – 24 hours later, soil enhancer is produced.
“We want to be more sustainable with our waste. As most of our catering waste is compostable, we thought it’d be a better idea to be able to do that on campus rather than having to expel extra energy and carbon by transporting it to a third-party facility.”
Mike Hall, Estates and Facilities Services
Environmental support
Once the the biodigester had been set up, Vegware’s Environmental team got to work. Prior to the system going live, Vegware’s Waste Management Consultants produced bespoke bin signage and worked with Harp’s Marketing team to design pull up banners. Having signage and banners designed specifically for the the University of Roehampton helped limit the amount of contamination in the composting stream. The designs featured the specific Vegware products being used meaning consumers could understand the waste streams and dispose of their waste correctly.
The new system was well received by the teams at the university. Reducing the amount of general waste produced and being able to throw food waste and catering disposables into one bin was a great solution. It also made everything simpler for the busy Catering and Facilities teams, as Samuel Mwachuma explained:
“It has made our work easier: to recycle all the products of Vegware together with the food that eventually goes back onto the grounds of the campus. That means we don’t have to sort out a lot of the waste that is being left after service. By having designated bins and places where they can dispose of the boxes and the cutlery, it makes it makes it easier for us. At the end of the day, we have a minimal amount of waste to collect on the table.”
Vegware bin pong
The next task was making sure that all the students and other staff knew and understood the process. When better to do this than in Freshers’ Week? The Environmental team hosted a Bin Pong competition. For some students, all the beer pong practice had paid off. The game gave them a chance not only to understand the new waste stream but also to understand what could be disposed of in dry mixed recycling.
What’s next?
That’s just the start for the University of Roehampton. For the next steps they hope to implement food waste collections of the campus’ halls of residence. Students will be able to dispose of used Vegware and food waste in their own kitchens, safe in the knowledge that it’ll be supporting plant life on campus instead of going to landfill. Watch this space.
“I think we’re very lucky at Roehampton to now have this have this biodigester on campus.”
Harrison Cohen
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