Students grabbing lunch at Plaza 900 over the last three weeks have noticed a few changes with the dishwashing process.
Campus Dining Services began using a new conveyer belt system in the dining hall in January to increase efficiency and eliminate trays.
This comes as the last installment of a series of changes across campus to eliminate the use of trays in all dining halls. Dining services spokesman Michael Wuest said Plaza 900 was the last dining hall to make this transition due to restrictions of the former conveyer belt that only worked with trays.
“The last piece of that puzzle was going tray-less at Plaza,” he said. “Now, all you have to do is put (your plate and utensils) directly on the belt. There is not much of a change for students.”
Sophomore Caleb Heid said he was satisfied with the new process.
“Getting rid of the trays was a great choice,” he said. “Now, it is a far more efficient system.”
Heid also said he was thrown off when he had a meal at Plaza 900 right after the change took effect.
“Mainly, I just noticed that there were a few other people like me who were confused when the conveyer belt was going backwards,” he said.
Any confusion aside, Wuest said this change at Plaza 900 was just a matter of time after the idea of tray-less dining halls received positive response two years ago.
“We went tray-less back in 2011,” he said. “We started with a trial run at Rollins during Summer Welcome.”
Wuest said increased efficiency is obvious even though there is not enough data to have conclusive results.
“We know we aren’t washing trays anymore,” he said. “In the past, whenever the dish belt would slip, we would have to shut down the entire area and switch to paper products.”
Wuest said that not using trays allows Campus Dining Services to better use its staff members.
Staff member Josh Drage said the new conveyer belt breaks less and it allows for easier traffic flow.
Drage also said there have been several other changes made behind the scenes at Plaza 900 as well within the last few months as the facility prepares for a major expansion project this summer.
“With the new conveyer belt, they redesigned the entire dish area,” Drage said.
The changes to the conveyer belt also impacted the layout of the surrounding area, including the men’s restroom. Now, whenever the door to the restroom opens, it swings right in front the sink. But Drage said the issue will be resolved.
“It’s only a temporary change,” he said. “In the summer, Plaza is getting completely renovated.”