How 21 Orange County schools are diverting food waste from the landfill to compost

ORLANDO, Fla. — Every day almost 600 Avalon Elementary School children walk the line of the cafeteria.

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They grab their tray, their food, utensils and sit down for lunch in a very normal routine we’re all familiar with.

Several months ago, however, 21 Orange County schools changed the way they finish the school lunch routine by changing their cleanup process.

Since August, daily school lunch food waste at Avalon totaled more than 6,000 pounds. And until this school year, that food waste was thrown directly into the trash.

“Cans and cans and cans and bins and bins and bins of food -- severe amounts of waste”, recounts Tara Popovich, assistant principal of Avalon Elementary School.

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But this year, OCPS won a grant from the USDA for 21 schools to compost all this school lunch food waste. And since August, they’ve diverted 65,000 pounds from the landfill, with AES leading the pack with the most food waste diverted from the landfill to compost.

They’ve developed their own unique system with diligent custodians overseeing and enthusiastic students - separating food waste out and into compostable bags, removing wrappers, trucking it outside and into animal-proof bins for pick by a local composting business.

The goal, ater two years, find out if separating food waste from general trash could save money as fewer trash pickup visits would be needed?

“We had three visits (for trash pickup) a week before (the project), I know we have reduced our visits by at least one a week” Popovich said.

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According to Orange County, food waste accounts for almost 7% of our total waste. In 2023 alone, almost 85-thousand tons of food waste was added to the orange county landfill when it could otherwise be composted.

“Trash doesn’t just disappear, it’s got to go somewhere but by diverting that waste we are recycling it we’re doing something beneficial with it,” a sentiment stated by Charlie Pioli, Owner of O-Town Compost which is performing the composting for this grant project.

By springtime, the food waste that began at Avalon, will be delivered back to Avalon as compost to help fertilize their school garden.

“The kids are just so excited, and it’s something they all do together, they feel good because they think they’re helping, they know they’re helping”, Popovich ended.

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