Waste Minimization

Falcons Finding Food is a program where members of the community will be notified when there is leftover food at events. People who sign up can come to the event in a specified period of time and eat the food onsite or take the food to go. The food is first come first served and is not guaranteed. You can sign up here or go to https://bentley.service-now.com/ and search Find Food. 

How It Works

Goal: Minimize leftover food waste from campus events. 

Sign-Up: People who sign up for notifications can come to an event hosted on Bentley campus must register. You will then receive alerts via email and text is optional when leftover food is available. 

Availability: The notification released will indicate when the food is available until. The food is not guaranteed to those who receive the notification. 

Details in Alerts: Notifications will include the number of servings, type of food and any allergens. They will also include location and time frame that the food is available. 

Risks: Pre-cooked meals and transportation carry with them inherent risks that include, but are not limited to, health hazards resulting from improper transport, handling, and storage. By consuming leftover food, participants acknowledge that they accept all risks and waive any potential liability as to Bentley University or any other food donor associated with the donated food that is made available. 

To unsubscribe from Falcons Finding Food alerts please email  ga_bentley_sustainability@bentley.edu.

Both federal law (42 U.S.C.A. § 1791) and Massachusetts law (Mass. Gen. Law sch. 94 § 328) provide food donors (including Bentley University) liability protection related to food donations. Notwithstanding the above, individuals who sign up to participate in the Falcons Finding Food program and who accept any donated food, as a condition of participation, accept all risks of consuming leftover food and waive any potential claims it may have against any food donors (including Bentley University). 

This program helps ensure that surplus food is put to good use, benefiting both the environment and the campus community. Bentley reserves the right to change the access, deny access or cancel the program at any time and in its sole discretion. 

Falcons Finding Food is a partnership among the Office of Sustainability, Procurement and Campus Services, Bentley Dining and the Bentley IT Client Services. 

Please contact ga_bentley_sustainability@bentley.edu with any questions. 

Bentley has a leftover food donation program in the 921 dining hall in collaboration with  a local food rescue organization, Rescuing Leftover Cuisine (RLC). Through this initiative, leftover food from the campus’ 921 dining hall is collected and packaged and RLC delivers surplus food to people in need through local community non-profit partnerships.

Give 'N Go is Bentley's sustainable move out program where students can donate items they don't want to take with them. Reusable goods like clothing, furniture and kitchen items are collected and donated to Goodwill Morgan Memorial. In addition, all non-perishable food donated by residential students is given to Healthy Waltham. In total, the Bentley community donated 41K lbs of reusable items during their move out cycles since 2023.

Learn More About Give 'N Go

Bentley's Reuzzi reusable container program directly reduces single-use packaging waste generated through dining services. Students simply tap their Bentley ID to check out a container, and the system automatically tracks key reuse metrics. This captures data that supports the university's broader waste minimization goals. By embedding accountability into the checkout process, Reuzzi makes it easy to measure the program's real impact and demonstrates how small behavioral shifts in dining can contribute to reducing campus waste over time.

Bentley has a Microsoft Teams site called Re-use. This is a place for employees to swap office items with others on campus. Check the Re-use Teams Site before purchasing new items as someone on campus may have the item that you seek.

Please note: This site is for exchanging small office items only. If you have furniture you are no longer using please contact Procurement and Campus Services.

If you would like to participate in the Re-use Team: Go to Teams. In the top right corner click "Join" or "Create Team." In the "search teams" field, type "Re-use." Click on the team and select "Join."

Bentley has been composting behind the scenes in kitchens since 2013. Food scraps are collected for composting in the university's three main preparatory kitchens servicing The 921 Dining Hall, the LaCava Lower Café, Faculty Staff Dining Room, campus catering operations and the Dana Center Food Court. Post-consumer (i.e. leftover) food from The 921 Dining Hall and catering operations is also collected in the university's compost program. Bentley’s Compost is processed by Anaerobic Digestion, a process which creates energy as well as Pellet fertilizer which is used to grow new crops. 

Learn more about the process here

Consumer Composting at LaCava

Community members can participate in composting in the LaCava Café. Diners are encouraged to put food and paper based to-go containers in the compost bins. 

Read more on what is compostable on campus

Outdoor Event Composting Option

To improve the composting effort of outdoor events, mini compost toters at outdoor catered events have been implemented. These mini-toters are designed to extend existing campus sustainability efforts into more high-traffic settings so composting can occur all around campus. This intitative builds on current composting infrastructure rather than creating an entirely new system. As dining occurs in many places on campus spontaneously in the form of events, these mobile toters function as temporary extensions of that system, allowing organic waste from outdoor events to be captured and redirected efficiently. 

Residential Composting Bin

Bentley University is committed to advancing sustainability and reducing waste across our campus communities. To support this committment, Bentley offers a residential and community food waste composting program that helps divert organic material from landfills and moves us closer to our Zero Waste goals. This program provides a secure, designated drop-off location on campus, making it easy for students to responsibly manage food waste while contributing to a healthier, more sustainable environment.

• How to use the residential bins:

  Using the program is simple and convenient. With the provided compostable paper bag, available in the nearest laundry room, place your leftovers and spoiled food inside. Once the bag is full, bring to the nearest food waste drop-off station and place it directly into th food waste bin.

• Do's and do not's of the food waste bins
  • DO use the food waste bins for...
    • Edible food scraps (like unfinished meals)
    • Inedible food scraps (like spoiled food, peels and rinds, eggshells, etc.)
    • Soiled paper goods (like unbleached napkins and unlined paper food containers)
    • Tip: With paper goods, if it is compostable, it will usually say so!
• DO NOT use the food waste bins for...
  • Bioplastics like PLA
  • Waxed paper (coffee cups, lined food containers, milk cartons)
  • Regular plastic containers or bags
  • Metal
  • Glass
  • Cardboard

Bentley has a robust single stream recycling program with an easy blue and black color-coded system. This means that all recycling goes into the blue bins and trash into the black bins. All common spaces and offices should be equipped with the appropriate bins.

Questions about how to recycle properly? Consult our Trash and Recycling Guide.

If you are missing a trash or recycling bin please put in a work order with Facilities Management here

Remember that anything you recycle must be clean and as dry as possible.

Bentley offers two electronic recycling stations for students, faculty and staff to recycle electronics such as batteries, cell phones, hand-held electronics and inkjet cartridges. Stations are located are on the ground floor of the library (next to the Client Services desk) and the first floor of Morison Hall.

Bentley Owned Electronics   

Items such as networked printers, copiers, and fax machines that are marked with a network tag or ID are handled by Client Services. Please contact them if you have one of these items that are no longer being used in your department. 

Other Bentley owned electronics such as small desktop printers, scanners and small electronics used in Bentley departments can be recycled through Facilities Management. Faculty and Staff can put in a work order (or call x2208) at least 5 days in advance for the movers to pick up electronics for recycling. Facilities Management will collect these items for recycling by North Coast Services.

Personal Electronics

Bentley does not provide recycling services for large personal electronics. Large electronics can be recycled in a number of ways.  
Most towns provide "Household Hazardous Waste Days" or "Electronics Recycling Days" several times per year. Some towns have curbside pickup and some require residents to drop electronics off at the Department of Public Works. Check out your town's website and look under "DPW" or "Solid Waste and Recycling" for more information.

Best Buy offers free recycling services for electronics, even if you didn't buy them at Best Buy! This is a great example of a company taking responsibility for the full life cycle of their products.

Textiles are banned from disposal in trash bins in Massachusetts. To reduce trash generation throughout the state, textiles including clothes, shoes, linens, towels, curtains, and cloth accessories must now be recycled or donated. 95% of textiles can be recycled or donated for reuse. To aid that effort, Bentley has partnered with Helpsy to install three clothing and shoe donation bins on campus located in: 

• The parking lot at Lewis Hall
• The parking lot near Rhodes Hall
• Near building B on North Campus