Grant from Virginia Department of Environmental Quality will reduce food waste and expand composting operations at George Mason

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George Mason University received a grant of more than $1 million from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to support food waste prevention, food rescue, and composting programs on campus. The funding supports projects that reduce landfill methane emissions by reducing food waste, recovering surplus food, and composting any remaining food waste.

George Mason received the second-largest award of any Virginia institution of higher education.

Photo by University Sustainability

The Virginia DEQ has awarded nearly $8 million to 12 Virginia colleges and universities to reduce food waste across the commonwealth. The funding is provided through the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program.

Through this grant, University Sustainability and Mason Dining will lead a university-wide food rescue and composting program to reduce food waste, address student food insecurity, and keep compostable material from going in the trash. This includes the creation of a dedicated Food Rescue Hub, implementing artificial intelligence technology in dining halls to identify and prevent food waste, and adding critical personnel and infrastructure to expand and improve compost and food rescue operations.

"We are focused on developing a campus-wide system for addressing food waste-from prevention, to rescue, to composting," said Amber Saxton, program manager for University Sustainability. "Working with campus stakeholders, we identified critical needs, and we will use [this grant] to address those needs and build a leading model for change together."

Bigbelly units help reduce waste on campus with recycling and composting options. Photo by Facilities and Campus Operations

The grant will fund improvements to composting operations. George Mason has some composting infrastructure, which helped increase its composting rate from 49 tons in FY2020 to 298 tons in FY2024. However, a recent waste contamination audit of a university dining hall revealed that 74% of dining trash was compostable food waste. Improving food waste diversion at dining halls will support University Sustainability's Zero Waste goal of diverting 90% of all waste away from trash incineration and landfills.

The grant will also fund a dedicated full-time compost coordinator to address strategic planning, compostable purchasing, and contamination monitoring.

The funding for food rescue efforts arrives at a critical time for the Patriot Pantry as well. The Patriot Pantry, George Mason's chapter of the Food Recovery Network, and Mason Dining are already working to address food insecurity on campus, but resources have not kept pace with the growing needs in this area.

The Patriot Pantry provides food and hygiene items at the Fairfax Campus and Mason Square and has experienced a 990% increase in use since it became a permanent student service in 2016. Plans are underway to open a Food Rescue Hub in the Johnson Center in early 2027, providing access to grab-and-go meals on campus.

Volunteers from the Food Recovery Network have recovered extra food at campus dining halls and provided it to individuals in the surrounding community, but the new funds will allow these efforts to happen on campus as well.

"With the grant, we will be able to focus [food rescue] efforts on campus and provide grab-and-go meals through the Patriot Pantry to students who identify as food insecure," said Jonathan Elwell, director of Dining Services.

The grant will fund a dedicated space and equipment for a new Food Rescue Hub in Southside Dining Hall, as well as two part-time student food rescue specialists, who will work with staff from Mason Dining and volunteers from the Food Recovery Network to package, label, and flash freeze surplus food (prepared but never served). The food will then be transported to the expanded Patriot Pantry in the Johnson Center.

George Mason's chapter of the Food Recovery Network works to address food insecurity in the community. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

"The DEQ grant adding capacity to provide flash-frozen dining hall meals perfectly aligns with our relocation timing and goals," said Dwayne Hamilton Jr., assistant director for basic needs services with the Student Support and Advocacy Center.

Any food waste not rescued in this new system will be collected as compost and hauled to a local industrial composting facility, diverting waste from landfills and incinerators.

Campus partners, including University Sustainability, Mason Dining, Auxiliary and Business Services, the Patriot Pantry, Recycling and Waste Management, the Office of Community Engagement and Civic Learning, and student leaders from the university's chapter of the Food Recovery Network will work together to implement these new food waste prevention and composting systems.

"Our goal was to rethink how we handle food from start to finish," said Saxton. "By bringing partners together and building a shared vision, we created a sustainable model for change that will serve our university for years to come."

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