Composting to Mitigate Institutional Waste Streams.

The University of Tennessee at Martin in Martin, Tennessee recently established a composting operation on campus. Compost consists of food from the cafeteria and a mixture of manure and bedding from the agricultural pavilion and stalling barns, piled into open windrows on the UTM research farm. Manure and wood shavings from the agricultural pavilion and food from the University’s full-service cafeteria provided a continuous waste stream that would otherwise be sent away for disposal. The first compost pile, Row 1, was established August 2008. Row 2 was established January 2009 and is still an active pile. Since composting the campus waste stream was a significant ecological and economic decision, the operation must be monitored for viability as a waste management solution. To determine the feasibility and practicality of this operation, we conducted a number of chemical and physical studies on the University’s compost, which included monitoring temperatures, calculating the rate of respiration from the pile, and evaluating the area of influence around the piles. The results of these experiments show that the compost piles follow normal temperature and respiration patterns, and that there is little movement of nutrients beyond the immediate operation. From these studies, we have learned that composting institutional waste streams at the University of Tennessee at Martin is an effective, inexpensive, environmentally friendly waste management solution that will be continued in the future.