By Matthew Cimitile, University Communications and Marketing
A partnership between the University of South Florida St. Petersburg and the City of St. Petersburg has brought an industrial-sized composter to campus to process food waste and produce nutrient-rich compost for the community.
The Greencycle composting initiative’s aim is to redirect tons of food waste each year from landfills, incinerators and sewage systems while creating compost for community gardens, urban farms and landscaping.
What will start as a sustainability project to reduce food waste from the campus’ dining facility in the first year, is expected to expand to a sustainable business that collects and processes waste from local partners and sells back compost to the community. Potential collaborators include farmers markets, restaurants and urban farms.
“This project has all the elements of what makes a university important to a community,” said Thomas Smith, USF St. Petersburg interim regional chancellor. “It is developing vital partnerships to enhance our collective impact, providing research and entrepreneurship opportunities for our students, and will lead to positive benefits for our environment and the region we serve.”
St. Petersburg Mayor Kenneth T. Welch demonstrates the functionality of the industrial-sized composter during the ribbon cutting ceremony.
A ribbon cutting ceremony on August 17 began the first phase of the initiative; the start of operations for the rapid industrial composter. The composter will receive food waste from The Nest, the full-service dining facility on campus.
Working with USF Dining and Facility Services, food preparation waste and scraps left on plates will be collected and fed into the composter to process into soil. The initial compost generated will then be used by the university’s grounds crew for landscaping needs on the 52-acre campus, reducing fertilizer costs for the campus and improving the environment.
After this initial phase, the operation will expand to take in up to 1,000 pounds of food waste from campus and local partners. Potential collaborators include the Sustainable Urban Agriculture Coalition, Saturday Morning Market and 15th Street Farm.
"I'm proud to join my alma mater for this exciting partnership that will pilot new ways to turn everyday food waste into a resource that strengthens our local food system," said Mayor Kenneth T. Welch during the ribbon cutting ceremony. "St. Pete should be a place that embraces new technology, new ideas and new partnerships to solve real problems for our residents; Greencycle is a perfect example of that belief in action. However, none of this happens without strong partners. I want to thank our City team, USF St. Petersburg, Chancellor Smith and everyone who worked together to bring this grant to life.”
City and university officials envision students working for the food waste initiative, bringing compost to the Saturday Morning Market to sell to farmers and the public, while also collecting food waste at the market to feed the composter. Faculty envision research projects where students learn about food systems, sustainability operations, microbiology, economics and more.
“This project has all the elements of what makes a university important to a community. It is developing vital partnerships to enhance our collective impact, providing research and entrepreneurship opportunities for our students, and will lead to positive benefits for our environment and the region we serve.”
Thomas Smith, USF St. Petersburg interim regional chancellor
In 2025, the initiative received a $350,000 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Composting and Food Waste Reduction program. It is also supported by $100,000 from the USF Student Green Energy Fund and a generous $50,000 donation from Duke Energy.
“One of the things I love most about my role is witnessing what can happen when different organizations, businesses and community leaders come together in pursuit of a shared goal. It’s exciting and extremely rewarding to see an idea – especially one as innovative as the Greencycle initiative – become reality because of this kind of collaboration at the local level,” said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president. “Duke Energy Florida is proud to support USF St. Petersburg and the City of St. Petersburg, helping create opportunities for students to learn and develop their passions, while making St. Pete a stronger, more sustainable place for all of us to call home.”
Duke Energy presented a check of their donation to the Greencycle composting initiative at the event.
The funds have gone towards the purchase of the industrial-sized composter, the hiring of an operations manager to oversee day-to-day activities, a hybrid truck to transport food waste from the dining hall and other city locations, and a solar-powered curing site to complete the composting process. Greencycle will employ several student workers to operate the composter and distribute compost across the city.
The USDA grant was written by Susan Toler, associate dean of the College of Arts & Sciences on the St. Petersburg campus, Chemistry Professor of Instruction John Osegovic and Environmental Science and Sustainability Studies Professor of Instruction Jim Ivey, in collaboration with the City of St. Petersburg. It was informed by a business plan developed by Frank Nunez, a program planner with USF’s Nault Center for Entrepreneurship.
“This initiative began with an inspired idea from our students and grew through the shared passion, dedication and collaboration on our campus,” Toler said. “It stands as a testament to what is possible when students, faculty, staff and campus partners unite around a common purpose.”
For local businesses and organizations interested in collaborating on Greencycle, please reach out to Kelci Lancsarics, USF St. Petersburg associate director of community relations.