Windsor Regional Hospital launching composting program to cut landfill waste

Windsor Regional Hospital is starting to compost food waste.

Windsor Regional Hospital is set to roll out a new composting initiative aimed at reducing the amount of organic waste sent to landfill.

Dubbed Project Green, the program will officially launch May 1 at both the Met and Ouellette campuses, targeting food and organic waste generated through patient meals, retail food services and hospital operations.

“We are starting on May 1st. We are very excited about it,” said Derrick Wigle, manager of guest services. “Our team has been working together to collaborate. And we’ve identified that the organic materials produced at Windsor Regional Hospital is a large amount. So we’re looking at diverting them from the landfill.”

The initial phase will focus on high-volume areas, including on-site food services and patient kitchens.

“So we’re starting off with our retail servers in our patient food kitchen,” Wigle said.

Hospital officials say health-care facilities generate significant amounts of waste, much of it organic — something the new program aims to address.

“It’ll make a huge difference,” Wigle explained. “As we know, health care facilities produce a large amount of waste and a large amount of it’s organic. So diverting it from the landfill is a huge benefit.”

Compost bins will be placed in key locations such as Tim Hortons outlets, the Daily Grill and food and nutrition departments, where staff will be encouraged to separate items like food scraps and coffee grounds from regular garbage and recyclables.

The initiative builds on existing recycling efforts already in place across the hospital, including paper, plastics and other materials.

Wigle said the idea was partly inspired by Windsor’s residential green bin program.

“We started implementing at our home, and at first I was honestly very skeptical, but then I completely bought in once I seen how much we were diverting,” he said.

He added the move toward composting in a hospital setting is overdue.

“It is definitely long overdue. Absolutely.”

Looking ahead, hospital officials hope to expand the program beyond staff-only areas.

“Long term is we’re going to start it in these areas that I mentioned,” Wigle said. “And then hopefully in phase two, we can bring it to the public and all the staff doing it in our cafeteria where we’re at right now.”

Project Green is part of the hospital’s broader effort to reduce its environmental footprint and promote sustainability within the health-care system.