The tan building encloses the bays where the compost is cured. Food waste and chipped landscaping waste are put into the mixer. Food waste collected from Cherry St. Market. Mixed food and landscaping waste are loaded into a compost bay. Testing the compost pile's temperature. Compost Facility  SU Compost Presentation

Campus Compost Facility

Between 1995 and 2002, food waste from the Cherry St. Market kitchen was collected and sent to Cedar Grove Compost.  In 2003, we built our own compost facility, reducing our green house gas emissions because a truck no longer hauls food waste 23 miles to a compost facility nor returns to campus with compost.  Our facility annually turns 52,000 pounds of food waste into compost which is applied as a soil amendment on our planting beds to improve soil quality.  Our compost facility produces top quality compost, often better than we could purchase commercially.

The compost facility’s location in a large city makes it unique. Located in a neighborhood of homes and businesses, adjacent to an apartment building and restaurants, the facility has operated without issues.  We have won four awards for this facility.

I want to take a tour

To schedule a group tour, contact Matthew Benedict, Composting Technician. The facility is located between the 1218 Cherry Building and the Law School Annex on 13th Ave. (map).  Take a virtual tour by viewing the SU Compost Presentation under Related Documents at the bottom of this web page.  

How is compost made?

1. Food waste is created by kitchen staff in our campus restaurants and the Arrupe Jesuit residence. Our facility is only permitted to compost pre-consumer food waste - food that has not been served. This includes: fruit and vegetable trimmings, old bread, expired grains, and coffee grounds from all five campus cafes.
2. Custodians pick up food waste and deliver it to the recycling and composting yard.
3. Various amounts of pre-consumer food waste and chipped landscaping waste from campus grounds and local landscaping companiesare mixed together to achieve a proper balance of carbon and nitrogen in each batch of compost.
4. Once a batch of compost is loaded into the composting facility, it stays there until the entire bay has been filled. The material in a filled bay composts for one to two months, then is moved to the curing bay to cure for an additional one to two months.
5. When a new batch of compost is complete, the Grounds Crew applies it on our planting beds to improve soil quality.