The University of Winnipeg will be sending food scraps and other compostable items to The Forks as part of a new partnership. The items will be broken down in a device called a BIOvator. (HANDOUT)
Food scraps, containers and cutlery from the University of Winnipeg will be sent to The Forks to be turned into compost for landscaping.
The two parties signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday as part of the agreement, which will see two to three truckloads a week of organic materials collected on campus. The materials will be composted by The Forks’ unique BIOvator system.
The U of W has been composting since 2005 — which avoided 51,000 kilograms of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions last year — the equivalent of taking 37 mid-sized cars driving 100 km per week off the road.
“This is a great initiative and partnership for us. It allows us to expand our Target Zero initiatives beyond our own borders and offer this service to benefit the greater community,” said Paul Jordan, chief operating officer of The Forks. “We consider this the pilot and we hope to serve as a model for others to view their waste in a different way.”
