Waste Minimization

Virginia Tech Dining Services is committed to minimizing our environmental impact through composting, recycling, and food diversion. 

Composting

For the last 11 years, Dining Services has sent more than 11 million pounds of food waste and biodegradable food packaging to Virginia composting facilities, where it’s converted to farm, garden, and landscaping products. The university is also in the planning phase of creating a composting facility on university property west of the Blacksburg campus.

Recycling

Campus-wide programs, which include Dining Services’ 10 dining centers and two food trucks, recycled more than 2,000 tons of plastics and cardboard in 2019, about 40 percent of the university’s trash. To learn more, visit the Office of Sustainability recycling page.

Food Diversion

Through Dining Services’ partnership with Campus Kitchen, a student organization addressing food insecurity, almost 200,000 pounds of unserved meals has been sent to local food banks and nonprofits since the program started in 2015. Volunteers collect high-quality, unserved food and staples each week from six dining centers and deliver them to several food pantries, nonprofit senior centers, and the YMCA after school program.

Polystyrene Free Dining

Virginia Tech no longer serves food or beverages in polystyrene containers after partnering in 2018 with our national franchises such as Chick-Fil-A and Dunkin’. We’ve also switched to compostable packaging for Dining Services’ branded concepts.