St. Cloud Hospital uses food waste as fertilizer

St. CLOUD, Minn.—Flower gardens surrounding the St. Cloud Hospital could bloom a little brighter this year with the help of fertilizer produced from waste food.

The hospital installed a system to grind and dehydrate waste food about two years ago. Instead of going down the drain, the food is run through a pulping machine, then dried. The material is reduced by about 96 percent in the process.