Allegheny College
Campus Composter:

Beginning operations in the fall, 2001, students and faculty at Allegheny College realized the culmination of many years due diligence searching for a cost effective method of reducing or eliminating disposal of food waste from school dining halls to landfill. Allegheny College has become the first college or university in Pennsylvania to install an on-campus composting facility. This waste reduction initiative is part of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) newly formed "Organics Recycling Task Force" to develop strategies to increase composting within the State. The mandate set by the Governor's administration is to achieve a goal of recycling 35% of Pennsylvania's waste by the year 2003. The "Campus Composter", supplied by Wright Environmental Management, processes approximately 2,000 pounds of organics per day, consisting primarily of left overs from food preparation and meals, mixed with waste amendments, producing a rich value added product, compost which are being used by the gardens and grounds on the College property.

Population on campus is approximately 2,400 including students, staff and faculty, most of whom eat meals in at least one of the 3 main college dining halls. Typically food scraps from plates and kitchen areas have been discarded in dumpsters and transported to landfill at considerable expense, as well as to negate any possible benefit of treating this waste stream as a resource. Ken Hanna, director of the college's physical plant, said that the college annually spends approximately $20,000 on topsoil, hence one of the plans for the composter is to produce it's own topsoil, hopefully enough to satisfy needs for the entire campus.

The in-vessel composter provides the Allegheny faculty, staff and students with research and training opportunities. Information gained from the composting program is transferable to other public and private institutions, which will help to provide the sustainable development of composting programs throughout the State and beyond.

Founded in 1815, Allegheny College is a nationally recognized, selective college of the liberal arts and sciences in northwestern Pennsylvania. Allegheny is among a select group of just 190 U.S. colleges and universities whose strong track records in math and sciences merited their inclusion in Peterson's
"Top Colleges for Science".

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