University, partners intensify food waste management on campus

De La Salle University and its partners, the World Wide Fund For Nature-Philippines and The Soilmate Collective Inc., have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to intensify the University’s Waste Management Program, specifically its Food Waste Management. 

The University announced this development as it underscored its vision-mission as a leading university that is attuned to a sustainable Earth and supportive of the growing efforts to localize the UN Sustainable Development Goals.    

Signing the MOU were President Br. Bernard Oca FSC and the Director of the Sustainability Hub-Manila, Joseph Rosal, for DLSU; World Wide Fund For Nature-Philippines Executive Director Katherine Custodio; and  Chief Soilmate and President Catherina Papio. 

The World Wide Fund For Nature-Philippines is implementing “SoilMate: A Systematic IT Solution to Food Waste Landfill Diversion through Composting” funded by WWF International, WWF-Switzerland, and WWF-United States. The platform is designed for the food service industry to divert food waste from landfills.   

The Soilmate Collective Inc. is a private company that focuses on bokashi composting. Bokashi is a Japanese word that means “fermented organic matter.” Soulmate Collective will collect all the food waste of the University for composting, which is a process of turning it into fertilizer. 

DLSU eyes the start of the Implementation of the food waste collection by Term 2 of AY 2024-2025, with a plan of adopting this process for its other campuses in Laguna, BGC, and Lian in Batangas.