Marquette University debuts resuable takeout containers in dining halls

MILWAUKEE — It's the latest "green" thing at Marquette University, and every freshman and sophomore in a residence hall has one.

It's called an OZZI (pronounced Oh-zee), a 9-by-9 inch bluish-green plastic container that's microwaveable and BPA-free.

If all goes as planned, the OZZI will replace tens of thousands of disposable takeout containers that for years have filled garbage cans in campus dining areas, and eventually ended up in landfills.

High-tech black metal boxes collect and store the used OZZIs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so they can be washed, sanitized and air dried for reuse. After students deposit a dirty OZZI in the machine, the machine spits out a token students can take to a dining venue for a replacement OZZI the next time they order takeout food.

At the end of the month, the collection machines will calculate — based on bar code scans of containers — how many trees were saved.

Each OZZI can be used 300 to 350 times, according to Kevin Gilligan, general manager of Sodexo Dining Services at Marquette.

Consider that in the Marquette Place food court at Alumni Memorial Union — the largest dining venue on campus — roughly 75,000 takeout containers were being thrown out each semester, before the OZZI's arrival.

Many students also requested disposable takeout containers, rather than china, to eat in the dining area, Gilligan said. Then they tossed the disposable container in the trash and not in a recycling bin.