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How do you get rid of food waste and other garbage?
How do you get rid of food waste and other garbage?
Recycling Food Waste Saves District Money
All our trash and recycling, after it is sorted by our staff, is taken to a sorting station in Minneapolis where it is sorted again. The trash is burned in an incinerator and the energy is used to heat Target Field and many office buildings in the Minneapolis area. Learn more about how it works! It's important to teach our students what items can and cannot be recycled. Please review the School Recycling Guide document for information on these items.
Waste Management System
The system to manage waste at Eden Prairie Schools consists of:
- Garbage
- Cardboard recycling
- Food and beverage container recycling (cans, glass, plastics)
- Food donation
- Food waste recycling by way of feeding it to livestock.
At the schools, compactors and dumpsters are dedicated to garbage; loose cardboard is baled for recycling; food and beverage containers (cans, glass, plastic) are collected in barrels for recycling; edible excess food is set aside for food donation, and food waste is collected in barrels for livestock feeding. Eden Prairie Schools partnered with Hennepin County to recycle more at Central Middle School (CMS).
Livestock Feeding Program
Eden Prairie Schools uses Barthold Farms, a network of family farms that recycle food waste from commercial waste generators in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The farms recycle food waste by cooking it and feeding it to hogs.
Food waste is generated in two areas of the school district's food service operation:
- At the Nutrition Center located in the Eden Prairie High School where food for district-wide meals are prepared, cooked, chilled and temporarily stored before delivery to all district schools.
- At the cafeteria in each school where food is prepared and meals are served to students and staff.
The district's livestock feeding program is integrated into the Nutrition Center's food service operation at Eden Prairie High School:
- Barthold Farms provides the high school with food waste collection barrels to collect food waste for recycling. These barrels have a capacity of 32 gallons and have lids and wheels. Full and empty collection barrels are temporarily stored inside the shipping and receiving area next to the high school's loading dock.
- Each weekday morning the Nutrition Center fills "cold carts" with chilled and packaged food cooked the previous day. Cold carts keep the food cold as it is being delivered to schools on two district-owned delivery trucks. When the cold carts arrive at the schools, food service employees heat and serve the food for lunch.
- During the lunch periods, food waste is separated into collection barrels by students and staff in the school cafeterias. Full collection barrels are temporarily staged at the school loading docks.
- After lunch has been served, empty cold carts and full food waste collection barrels are picked up at the schools and transported back to the high school. Empty cold carts are returned to the Nutrition Center and full food waste collection barrels are consolidated at the high school's loading dock.
- Barthold Farms picks up full collection barrels five days a week at the high school.
Making an Impact
Eden Prairie Schools diverts an average of 10-15 tons of food waste per month to livestock feeding. By managing the food waste generated separately from its garbage stream, Eden Prairie Schools saves on its trash hauling and disposal costs.
Other Benefits
In addition to cost savings, Eden Prairie Schools has experienced other benefits because the food waste it generates is managed separately from its garbage stream:
- Improved worker safety because heavy garbage bags no longer need to be lifted into garbage dumpsters.
- Improved labor efficiencies because of fewer employee trips to empty garbage into compactors and dumpsters.
- Increased cleanliness of operations due to the elimination of liquid waste from the garbage stream.
- Reduction in odor due to elimination of food waste from the garbage stream.
- Reduction in the use and maintenance of in-sink garbage disposals.
- Improved inventory management because food waste is separate and more visible to food service employees.
We offer healthy, well-balanced meals that meet federal nutrition standards to students.
We operate an angel fund for students in need.
Account balances of graduating seniors will by default, be transferred to a sibling's meal account. Seniors without siblings will receive an email with refund options.
Families can add funds to student lunch accounts through our online system, Infinite Campus.
We do the best we can to efficiently manage waste while also preserving the planet for a more sustainable future.
Many students in our schools have allergies to certain food products, which is why we do everything we can to prevent cross-contamination.
Every two weeks, automated emails will be sent to parents of students with negative balance accounts until the balance is positive.
Stay informed about breakfast and lunch options at school using MealViewer. Access daily menus, nutritional details, and allergen info in one convenient app.
A state reimbursement to schools so students can have 1 breakfast and lunch at no cost.
Our school menus change due to supply chain issues affecting food availability, similar to what restaurants and grocery stores are experiencing.