New technologies and funding opportunities open the door to expanded composting operations at ASU and in Phoenix Photo by Kaden Ryback | State Press A’s tumbler machine sorts material by size at the 27th Avenue composting facility in Phoenix on Thursday, September 2, 2021. Posted by Kaden Ryback | Sep 14, 2021 4:26 p.m. New composting technologies enable ASU and the City of Phoenix to expand composting. On August 25, Phoenix City Council retrospectively applied for up to $ 90,000 in grants from the US Department of Agriculture to test a food waste collection program; While at ASU, the Zero Waste division is trying to expand their composting efforts to some Tempe residential halls. Together, the new programs will give Phoenix residents and ASU students the opportunity to compost their own waste. Composting at ASU was originally restricted as a back-of-house operation in the Sun Devil Dining areas, according to the university’s compost page. In recent years, students have taken the subject of composting into their own hands. Vista del Sol shared apartment students started a composting program in 2019, giving students gallon buckets to dispose of their food waste. There are plans to expand this program to other parts of the Tempe campus in University Towers, Greek Leadership Village and Barrett, The Honors College Residential Complex in the next semester, said Kendon Jung, a sustainability researcher and chair of the Tempe City Sustainability Commission. Food waste contamination is a major composting challenge. Most composting equipment cannot handle high levels of contamination. Because of this problem, university officials have considered purchasing new equipment that can handle highly contaminated food waste. “There is this machine, you can think of it as a food processor that you just pour a bunch of stuff into. It grinds it up, separates plastics and produces a mulch stream from food-safe waste, ”said Jung. Phoenix Composting Efforts The Phoenix City application was led by the Public Works Department and Assistant City Manager to develop food waste reduction strategies and improve composting programs. The 27th Avenue Compost Facility in Phoenix opened in 2017 and can process up to 55,000 tons of compost per year. According to its website, the plant quickly produces large amounts of compost using the Turned Aerated Pile (TAP). The TAP system works by placing compostable material on a large concrete slab, on which a series of small holes blows under the pile and sucks air through it to keep the pile at the optimal composting temperature. The piles are watered and turned every day to keep temperatures under control and ensure clumps of organic material are broken up. The TAP enables the facility to produce as much compost in 45 to 60 days as other composters need in six to nine months, said Enrique Peralta, operations manager at WeCare Denali. Phoenix officials want to expand composting by taking in more food waste from residents, said Alexis Yaple, a zero waste coordinator for Phoenix. If the city receives the USDA-requested grant money, the money will be used to test food waste collection in apartment buildings, Yaple said. This year, Peralta expects the facility to process more waste due to the destructive power of the monsoon rains. “All the storms that come by knocking down every tree in sight. The monsoon season is really rich in green waste, especially with all the cleanup jobs the landscapers do. It all comes out of here to us, ”he said. The compost produced at the facility will be sold to locals and other companies by WeCare Denali, Peralta said. But selling is only part of the economic appeal of composting. Composting diverts waste that would normally go to landfill, which, according to the Conservation Law Foundation, an environmental protection organization, reduces the cost of transportation and disposal. Aside from the economic benefits, composting is more environmentally friendly than disposing of waste in landfills. Organic matter produces methane gas because it has no air to decompose when sitting in a landfill. “We saw a newspaper in a landfill that had been buried for 40 years and that was in good condition. It doesn’t collapse. It’s basically mummified, ”said Yaple. Reach the reporter at kryback1@asu.edu and follow @KadenRyback on Twitter. Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter. Continue to support student journalism by making a donation to The State Press today.
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