Cornell University
OP-T2-23: Landscape Waste Composting

The majority of the agricultural composting at Cornell is carried out by Farm Services, a Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station (CUAES) operation and includes far more than waste from grounds keeping (please see details in the attached public notes). What constitutes University Grounds includes an extensive area used for agricultural teaching, research and outreach - Since 1992, the Cornell Grounds department has collected thousands of cubic yards of yard waste from normal lawn maintenance activities. All yard waste is ground and composted in order to reduce and reuse materials. This reduces disposal fees, transportation costs and the need to buy topsoil. Our management practices have reduced the amount of material going into landfills as well as the contamination of water sources on and adjacent to the campus.

Farm Services, an operation of the CUAES, collects compostable materials from on-campus facilities. Each year, Cornell composts approximately 850 tons of food waste, 3300 tons of animal manure and bedding, and 300 tons of plant material and soil. Organic material for composting is trucked to an established site near campus and unloaded into windrows. Material is turned on a regular basis (as weather permits) with a self-propelled straddle turner machine. Compost is considered finished within 6 to 9 months, and is then available for use on Cornell farm fields, campus construction projects, research trials, and to private purchasers. A full report on the CUAES compost facility can be referenced at http://cwmi.css.cornell.edu/farmservices.pdf