The University of Cape Town has implemented a food-waste tracking initiative for several years (including 2024) as part of its campus sustainability programme.  

UCT’s Properties & Services Estates & Custodial Department receives monthly reports from the waste recycling service provider that collects food waste from campus residence kitchens on a daily basis, weighs it and takes it for recycling. The food waste is either recycled as a food source for pig farms or for fish larvae production for fish farms, depending on the current demand. This practice has been in place for several years including 2024.

The food waste recycling data is shared publicly in the annual Carbon Footprint 2024 report.

There is some food waste that is not collected at the local student food court areas and in the residences rooms themselves, but this is a relatively very small amount of food waste compared to the food waste in the residence kitchens.