From scraps to soil: Palm Coast hospitals launch composting program

Published date: September 02, 2025 |

Estimated read time: 2 minutes |

Authored by:

Jack Steinwehr

Topics:

Community People

At AdventHealth Palm Coast and AdventHealth Palm Coast Parkway, a new sustainability effort is transforming food scraps from the hospital kitchens into compost that helps nourish the community from the ground up.

Since July, more than 2,000 pounds of unused food have been collected and sent to local farms, where it is turned into compost that enriches the soil and supports healthier harvests.

The initiative is part of a partnership with O-Town Compost, an Orlando-based sustainability group. Each day, the hospitals’ kitchen teams gather food trimmings and other scraps that cannot be served. An O-town Compost truck collects the scraps and delivers them to places like Gaston Tree Debris Recycling and Froot Farms, where they are processed into compost.

“Instead of going into the landfill, our food scraps now go toward something good,” said Mario Rinaldi, senior manager of food and nutrition services at AdventHealth Palm Coast. “They are helping plant new seeds and create healthier soil.”

For Rinaldi and his team, the project is about more than waste reduction. Preparing thousands of meals every day for patients, families, and team members, they see how small changes in the kitchen can ripple to benefit both people and the planet.

The program is part of AdventHealth’s broader sustainability efforts, rooted in the belief that caring for people also means caring for the environment. In Flagler County, that commitment is taking shape in the kitchen, where simple daily practices are helping create healthier harvests and stronger communities.