Green Scene

Recycling & Waste Reduction

• All resident and retail dining locations recycle their cooking oil through Buffalo BioDiesel.
• In cooperation with the university’s Facilities department, we recycle glass and plastic bottles, metal cans, cardboard boxes, office paper and toner cartridges.
• TOMRA Uno reverse vending machines are in use across UB North and South Campuses. The machines recognize, accept and sort all plastic recyclable containers, giving a bottle refund receipt for items that qualify under the New York Bottle Deposit program. You can find reverse vending machines in the Ellicott Complex's Evans Quad & Ellicott Food Court, Natural Sciences Complex, Capen Hall, Knox Hall, Student Union, Governors Complex's Lehman Hall, and Harriman Hall.
• All of our Residential Dining Centers and use china plates and silverware which are washed and reused.

Energy & Water Conservation

• Our Residential Dining Centers are trayless. By being tray-free we use less energy and water to wash each tray. It takes about ¼ gallon of water to wash just one tray. Research also shows that by being tray-free, the amount of food waste decreases by one ounce per plate. The average person throws 163 pounds of food away each year!
• To conserve on water, spray heads that are used in our kitchen dish rooms to rinse dirty pots, pans and dishes are high efficiency low-flow. This reduces our water usage by more than 50 gal. per minute.
• We have purchased wind energy certificates to offset the carbon emissions from the power it takes to operate our public websites. 

Ecosystem Preservation

Composting Food Waste: By composting pre-consumer food waste and post-consumer food scraps, we are eliminating thousands of pounds from ending up in landfills. Instead, these materials are turned into renewable resources — such as electricity or natural gas — through a process called anaerobic digestion.