The following message was sent to Morgan White to share with Carbon Credit Fund Administrators by Thurman Etchison, the Assistant Director of Dining - Facilities and Equipment, on November 18, 2021. The email & attachments contain important information regarding the potential installation of a Grind2Energy system at LAR:

Carbon Credit Fund Administrators,

Housing Dining Services is seeking funds to add a Grind 2 Energy system to our Lincoln Avenue Dining Hall. Grind 2 Energy is a system that allows us to put our food waste into a pumpable slurry so that it may be taken to an anerobic digester at the Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District. These systems replace the aerobic digesters we previously had in our dining units. The aerobic digesters had issues with the effluent not meeting EPA standards.

This system would be our fifth and likely final system as we would have one at every residential dining location. These are operational at Ikenberry, PAR, FAR and ISR. Currently, University Housing does not have resources to fund this project due to the impact of COVID on our budget. We would reach out to the Student Sustainability Committee for funding but for us to do the infrastructure work and have the unit installed prior to the next school year, we need to start before the next round of submissions.

The use of Grind 2 Energy has been a very successful program for us. It meets our needs, keeps us in compliance with regulatory bodies, is comparable in costs to other methods of disposal. It is very sustainable in terms of the environment. To date, we have diverted 289 tons of food waste even though there was limited use until this school year.

The amount we are requesting is $133,538.00. A simple breakdown of our expected costs is below. As our tradespeople have installed the 4 previous units, we believe this number to be very accurate. Our last unit came in within $1000 of our estimate.

LAR Grind 2 Energy – Preliminary Budget Cost

• LAR Grind 2 Energy System (equipment and labor)…..................................................................... $86,000
  • (Rigging fees)........................................................................................................................... $4,650
• Concrete Slab Work (existing planter modifications site work & new concrete slab)….................... $23,100
• New Wall at Table (Demolition, floor work, ceiling work, MEP & new wall)…................................... $19,788
• TOTAL:                                                                                                                                              $133,538

I would like to add that these units are highly visible on campus and it is our intention to start highlighting the metrics in our dining units via electronic messaging. This may include digital displays, The Housing Insider and social media platforms. There is also great deal of interest in biogas impact from these units. I have met with 2 groups of students from the CEE 190 class about these units in the past month.

In short, this program reduces carbon emissions, produces fertilizer and creates energy. The systems are highly reliable and have had almost no issues to date. Please see the attachments for additional info.

Thank you for your consideration, 

THURMAN ETCHISON

Assistant Director of Dining - Facilities and Equipment

True food circularity must include waste reduction on the agricultural and consumer sides. Don't miss this third iSEE Congress webinar on "Circular Food Systems," with Brian Roe, Van Buren Professor of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics at Ohio State; and Tom Theis, Director of The Institute for Environmental Science and Policy, University of Illinois Chicago. Register here >>>

November 3, 12–1 pm • Zoom webinar

Julie Wurth • Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment

"How Can We Reduce Waste from Agricultural and Food Systems?"

Previous Title: Reusable Dining Options

Previous Project Description: The Zero Waste SWATeam is interested in pursuing reusable service options for campus facilities which serve food at any capacity. This particularly applies to to-go options.

A to-go option using reusable containers will be implemented this fall in University Housing Dining at three locations: Lincoln Avenue Dining, Illinois Street Dining and Ikenberry Dining.  

Previous Project Background: 

As stated in the iCAP 2020, 

"Objective #5.3 ensures that items used on campus-particularly at large events- are durable, repairable, and reusable, and that they contribute to our university-wide culture of reuse."

This project is aligned with the goals of cultivating a zero waste culture on campus. Food is an enormous portion of the human experience, and rather than eliminate it, the Zero Waste SWATeam hopes to shift the paradigm towards the sustainable future the University of Illinois is planning. By providing opportunities for students to utilize reusable containers and participate in a reusable dining program, it will not only yield measurable reductions of single-use items in the waste stream, but will also bring sustainability to the forefront of each participant.

From: Maloto, Avery (FandS) <fandsamaloto2 at mx.uillinois.edu>
Sent: Monday, July 19, 2021 1:15 PM
To: Johnson, Bryan Lloyd <blj at illinois.edu>
Cc: White, Morgan <mbwhite at illinois.edu>
Subject: [Follow-Up] iCAP Portal Update(s)

Hi Bryan! 

I would like to offer a gentle reminder for the iCAP Portal content updates. We would appreciate receiving this information as soon as possible as it allows us to keep the public updated with university & community initiatives.  

Right now, I am missing updates for the following project(s): 

• Food Purchases from Local Sources
• Orchard Downs Community Gardens
• SDRP Lighting 

Please let me know if there is any information or assistance that I can provide to complete these! 

Best, 

Avery 

On July 26, 2021, the Zero Waste iCAP Team met to discuss Reusable Dining Options. In this call, Thurman Etchison, Justin Holding, Meredith Moore, Alexa Smith, and Avery Maloto spoke about a reusable to-go container program that is scheduled to launch at the beginning of the Fall 2021 semester.

Key takeaways from the call include the purchase of 10,000 reusable containers that will soon be available at Ikenberry, ISR, and LAR dining halls.

See the attached file to read the meeting notes.

To combat the issue of food waste, U of I Housing collaborated with F&S Utilities & Energy Services, Operations, Maintenance & Alterations, and environmental compliance. The committee researched various food waste options, including composting, pulpers, and grinder systems used for anaerobic digestion -- including Grind2Energy systems.

These operate similarly to an industrial garbage disposal. However, it uses significantly less water than the digester system, up to 90-95 percent less. Additionally, it does not send the waste directly to the sanitary sewer. The food waste is pumped into a 5000-6000 gallon tank located on the outside of the building it serves. A tanker truck empties the waste and takes it to the local sanitary district. The industrial-strength waste is processed in an anaerobic digester, where it undergoes treatment without oxygen. The methane produced is collected and used to generate electricity at the treatment plant.

Read more about Grind2Energy use on campus through the F&S Website or the PDF in the attached files!