UTA Sustainable Campus Composting Program

The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) and the City of Arlington combined their resources and sustainability visions to expand the UTA Sustainable Campus Composting program. John Darling, part of UTA Facilities Management with the Grounds Department staff, has been composting on campus since its inception. He actually got the program started.

Darling shares, “I was encouraged to begin composting at UTA as a result of casual conversations with Craig Powell, then director of the Environmental Health and Safety Department (EH&S).” The program started out as a small compost pile behind the EH&S offices collecting campus tree leaves and out of date produce from grocery stores. The program was a great compliment to UTA’s sustainability initiatives and their recycling program, which has received local and national recognition. Several months into the program’s operation -25,000 pounds of diverted leaves and 100 pounds of diverted fruits and vegetables later- Beck Valentich, of UTA’s EH&S, and Lorrie Anderle, Recycling Coordinator for the City of Arlington, recognized the potential of the UTA composting program and the benefit to the city landfill and campus landscapes.

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