Dining Services, in partnership with the Facilities Management Division and the Office of Sustainability, has diverted food waste from the landfill since 2014. This food waste is pulped and transported to the Bioconversion center, where it is composted and reused in campus landscaping projects and at the UGArden.

• In January of 2020, the dining locations at the Tate Student Center began composting consumer food waste in partnership with the Office of Sustainability.
• In December of 2018, Campus Catering began composting all post-consumer food waste.
• In March of 2018, the dining locations at the Tate Student Center began composting pre-consumer food waste including fruit & vegetable scraps, grains, and coffee grounds.
• In April of 2014, Dining Services eliminated all non-compostable items from the dining commons, which allows 100% of food waste to be composted. This was done by switching from non-biodegradable products like individual condiment packets, tea bags with paper tags attached by metal staple, and plastic straws to more sustainable options like reusable bulk condiment stations, 100% silk tea bags, and biodegradable paper straws.

Trayless dining helps reduce waste, conserve water, and save energy. Without trays, less uneaten food is discarded each day. Water and energy are saved by not having to wash trays. UGA’s five dining commons have practiced trayless dining since 2015 in partnership with the Office of Sustainability.

After studying the impact of trayless dining, UGA Dining Services took a big step to reduce waste by removing trays from their five dining commons. The department worked with the UGA Office of Sustainability to collect data during a two-week test period. Snelling Dining Commons was set as the control. During the test’s first week, trays were provided in Snelling as normal. The plate waste that came through the tray return was measured by volume and weight. During the second week, trays were removed from Snelling and the same measurements were obtained. The water meter was also monitored to see how water usage would be affected with no trays to wash.

Benefits include:

• 26.7 percent reduction in plate waste
• 16.4 percent reduction in water usage during the week without trays
• 107,142 pounds of food saved per semester across all dining commons
• 16,550 gallons of water saved per semester across all dining commons

UGA Dining’s Registered Dietitian also worked with professors within the College of Public Health at the University of Georgia and at Wake Forest to assess the impact of trayless dining on food choices of university students. Their research found that without trays students chose fewer beverages, decreased the amount of plate waste, while still choosing salads in the same amount.

Rajbhandari-Thapa J, Ingerson K, Lewis KH. Impact of trayless dining intervention on food choices of university students. Arch Public Health. 2018 Sep 24;76:61. doi: 10.1186/s13690-018-0301-5. PMID: 30258630; PMCID: PMC6151908.

Part of our sustainability effort includes making sure that we use as many local products as we can. This focus has gotten even closer to home with our expanding Campus Grown projects. Beginning in September 2019, Dining Services began creating Campus Grown special salads, which use ingredients grown straight from the vertical aeroponic Tower Gardens® at Oglethorpe Dining Commons and produce from UGArden.

Examples of Campus Grown items include:

• Fresh salad featuring baby Swiss chard, dandelion greens, and sorrel from the vertical aeroponic Tower Gardens® at O-House topped with mixed sweet peppers and roasted tomatoes from the UGArden, Asher bleu cheese from Sweet Grass Dairy in Thomasville, Georgia, spiced Georgia pecans, and a roasted tomato vinaigrette
• Fresh salad featuring tatsoi and dandelion greens from the vertical aeroponic Tower Gardens® at O-House and Jimmy Nardello peppers from the UGArden, topped with thinly sliced cucumbers, daikon radish, and carrots along with ginger-roasted organic white beech mushrooms and a spicy peanut dressing

Dining Services has been a long-time campus advocate of environmental sustainability concepts, including
recycling.

Some of our recycling initiatives include:

• Recycling cardboard, glass, plastic, and metal cans in all of our facilities
• Teaching new employees the procedures and value of recycling
• Collecting and recycling pizza boxes at the Niche Pizza Co. through a partnership with the Office of Sustainability
• Send off all used cooking oil to be recycled
• Recycling our office supplies, including all inkjet and toner cartridges
• Purchasing office paper with a minimum of 30% recycled content
• Providing on-campus collection sites for recycling cardboard, newspapers, plastic, and aluminum

Dining Services also composts food waste from its dining commons and retail operations and has substantial reduction efforts.

Reducing food waste on campus has been a top priority for Dining Services, in partnership with the UGA Office of Sustainability and UGA Facilities Management Division, over the past few years. Dining Services reduced its water usage in 2008 by 2.05 million gallons of water through conservation efforts. Since then, we have maintained this sustainable practice. Dining Services also composts food waste from its dining commons and retail operations and has substantial recycling efforts.

In all of our facilities we:

• Purchase products with minimum packing (ex. pouched vs. canned products)
• Purchase energy-efficient replacement equipment and install timers on lighting
• Purchase office paper with a minimum of 30% recycled content
• Use of electric hand dryers in lieu of paper towels in public restrooms
• Have eliminated plastic to-go bags
• Have promoted refilling water bottles by installing “Hydration Stations” at our water fountains.

Residential

Our dining commons locations

• Use trash pulper systems to drastically reduce the volume of paper and food waste sent to local landfills, while dramatically reducing water usage in trash disposal systems
• We use reusable dishes, glassware, and flatware

Retail

All of our retail locations use eco-friendly disposable service ware.

Dining Services’ locations in Tate Student Center

• Use compostable straws and are 100% plastic-straw free (effective Fall 2019)
• Have replaced Styrofoam packaging with paper and compostable fiber containers (effective 2018)
• Have eliminated plastic carryout bags (effective 2018)
• Recycle all used pizza boxes returned to Bulldog Café staff and encourage dine-in customers to choose a tray instead
• Compost back-of-house and consumer food waste in partnership with the Office of Sustainability

Part of our sustainability effort includes purchasing regional produce and food products when available and using as many local products as we can. This focus has gotten even closer to home with our expanding Campus Grown projects.

A variety of items in the dining commons and markets have ingredients sourced directly from Georgia farmers. We also source breads from Athens-based Luna Baking Co., coffee from Jittery Joe’s, and have recently introduced locally produced Squeeze King lemonade in the Market at Tate. Tea from UGArden is also available at Tate, among other items.

We also source cheeses from Sweet Grass Dairy and ice cream from Mayfield Dairy, both located in Georgia.

Georgia Grown

“Georgia Grown” is a local-minded brand with deep roots in sustainability, quality, and integrity. Each dining commons has menu items marked with the Georgia Grown icon. This icon means that an item contains ingredients sourced from Georgia. UGA Dining Services has been committed to Georgia farmers for years; working with an Atlanta based produce distributor and sourcing local products whenever possible because we recognize the value & importance of working with our neighbors. Rest assured when you see the “Georgia Grown” label that your food is helping to support Georgia.

Dining Services is also a major contributor to both the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia and Full Plate. These organizations ensure that our surplus food is distributed to human-service agencies in the Athens area. Dining Services was recognized with the 2003 Community Champion award for its support feeding people experiencing homelessness in the community.

Food Bank of Northeast Georgia

UGA Dining Services is able to donate unused ingredients and cans that cannot be used in campus locations to the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia. The food bank recovers donated and surplus food and distributes it to human-service agencies that operate emergency shelters, food pantries, after-school programs and soup kitchens in the Athens area.

Full Plate

For many years, UGA Dining Services has partnered with ACTION Inc.’s Full Plate program through food donations. UGA is able to donate prepared foods that have not been served. Full Plate distributes food to local charities that operate emergency shelters, food pantries, after-school programs and soup kitchens in the Athens area.

Dining Services donated 10,117.5 pounds of food to Full Plate in the 2019 Fiscal Year.

In Spring 2025, UGA Dining Services introduced Raccoon Eyes AI as a pilot program at Village Summit.

Raccoon Eyes is an innovative technology that enhances the dining experience and helps reduce food waste.

Using advanced AI and computer vision, the system analyzes plate selections to identify patterns in food waste, empowering UGA to make informed decisions for sustainability, monitor and reduce waste, and streamline processes.

Students can also play a role by being mindful and only taking what they will eat, helping to minimize leftovers.

Raccoon Eyes ensures efficiency, accuracy, and a more sustainable campus dining experience.