Compost Facility

Cornell’s compost facility, operated by Farm Services, turns 4,000 tons of organic waste annually into high quality compost. Instead of trucking the waste to a landfill, it is composted just one mile from campus. Composting reduces the amount of waste generated at the University, and lessens the need for energy-intensive transportation. Finished compost provides a valuable resource for local agricultural and landscape plantings.

Watch to learn more about our compost facility.

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From Waste to Compost

Farm Services collects and weighs campus compostables each weekday, and transports these materials to the four-acre composting facility. The collected materials, generated annually by over 60 Cornell waste streams, include:

2,700

tons

Animal bedding and manure from research and teaching facilities

300

tons

Plant debris from campus greenhouses, orchards and farms

800

tons

Food scraps and organic kitchen waste from Cornell dining halls and small eateries

Other waste streams include: building-specific compost collection programs and special events.

The waste is piled in sequential long heaps, called windrows. Each windrow is about seven feet tall and the length of a football field. The windrows are turned weekly from April through November. The consistent aeration and mixing of the organic materials speed the composting process and help to regulate moisture levels. Microbes feed on the decomposing waste, which heats the piles internally to 120-160⁰F during the process. These high temperatures aid in the destruction of pathogenic organisms and undesirable weed seeds.

Any water and nutrient runoff from the compost facility is captured in two large collection ponds and is either returned to windrows when they are too dry, or pumped to pastureland that serves as a bio-filter to uptake water and nutrients.

It takes about six to nine months to turn organic waste into mature compost. Much of the compost is used by Cornell’s nearby agricultural operations and on campus with landscape projects. A small amount is also sold to the public or donated to local charitable organizations.

The compost facility began operations in 1992, and was designed with help from the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering.

A tractor spreads compost on a field of vegetable crops.