COVID-19 Updates

Read the Clery COVID-19 Compliance Notification. Continued information on COVID-19, updated June 16.

Campus Reopening Plan

Read the reopening campus communications, updated July 30. Read the Campus Reopening Plan here.

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Composting Facilities

Leading the way.

Student volunteers initiated the campus composting program in 1993. Today, our compost program is still lead by work-study students who manage every aspect, including daily food scrap collection, monitoring the biological process, and final distribution.

In the past year alone, we’ve turned 170,000 pounds of campus, community, and business food waste and organic material (leaves, wood chips, and cardboard) into 28 tons of valuable soil.

Northland College offers an efficient one-stop, centrally located composting facility to serve the students and region.

Environmental Impact

Reducing fossil fuels needed for transporting local foods and local food waste and concentrating our waste systems stream.
Decreasing the most harmful greenhouse gases: decomposition of food wastes in landfills produces methane, while carbon dioxide is the byproduct of composting. The EPA estimates methane produces twenty times more heat capturing properties than carbon dioxide.
Returning finished compost to regional farms augments soils and reduces agricultural use of petro-chemicals due to an increase of beneficial in organisms and bacteria. Compost also improves water retention which reduces agricultural runoff and water use.

Household Bucket Compost Program

Our Household Bucket program is currently at capacity. Join our wait list.

The program requires a $25 enrollment fee on each compost bucket. You will take your bucket(s) home to collect food waste. You’ll be provided with a list of compostable and non-compostable items. Once the bucket is full or needs to be exchanged, simply return the bucket to the Hulings Rice Food Center during specified collection hours and exchange it for a clean one. It’s that easy!

As a member of this program you will be eligible for 25% off of finished compost purchases.

Campus Map

Collection Times:

Wednesday, 9 am – 5 pm
Saturday, 9 am – 12 pm
Or by appointment

Join our Household Bucket Compost Service:
Our Household Bucket program is currently at capacity. Please submit your name and email and we will send you a notification when we have openings. Thank you!

Commercial Compost Program

Our commercial compost program is an environmentally responsible and affordable way to dispose of your business’s food waste. It’s also a way for you to support Northland and the learning and research opportunities this program provides to students.

If your business is new to composting we will work with you to decide how many receptacles you need and how frequently collection needs to be. We recognize that based on the season or even simply the week, your food waste output may vary. We do our best to remain flexible and can adjust our pick-up schedule to meet your needs. Compost collection and clean bucket return occurs once per week.

You will be provided a list of compostable and non-compostable items. Our industrial composter creates optimal conditions for the digestion of food waste and allows us to process items that are not traditionally “compostable.”

Due to the size of our operation, we are able to have multiple payment options that fit your individual needs.

Program Pricing:

$100 deposit for each 32 gallon rolling trash can/receptacle
$20 per month pick up charge per receptacle OR $200 annual advanced payment per receptacle OR $160 for 9-month academic year advance payment per receptacle. Collection is once per week.
As a partner benefit, you and your business receive a 25% discount on finished compost purchases.

If for any reason you decide to leave the program, deposits on the receptacles will be fully refundable provided they are returned in working condition.

Join our Commercial Compost Program:

Complete this contract to join our Commercial Compost Program. If you have questions or concerns along the way please contact us at 715-682-1268 or via email .
Business Name*
Contact Name*
First Last
Phone*
Email*
Number of Receptacles*
Receptacle Deposit*
$100.00 per receptacle.
Price: $100.00
Service Fee Payment Options*
First month(s) fee charged today, monthly invoices will be mailed to your for future payments.
Total
$0.00
Credit Card

Discover
MasterCard
Visa
Card Number Expiration Date Security Code Cardholder Name
Billing Address
Street Address Address Line 2 City State / Province / Region ZIP / Postal Code Country
Contact Address
- Same as Billing
- Different Address
Business Address*
Street Address Address Line 2 City State / Province / Region ZIP / Postal Code Country
Agreement*
I agree to the terms of this contract for the Northland Commercial Composting Program.
Name
Date*
Date Format: MM slash DD slash YYYY
Be certain to click the SUBMIT button. You will receive an email confirmation soon after submitting the form. If you do not receive an email confirmation, it means your form did not go through and you need to resubmit.

Purchase Compost

Bulk, finished compost is available for purchase at the Hulings Rice Food Center compost facility Mondays through Fridays 8:00 to 4:30 p.m.

You must provide your own container to fill. Price is $0.50 per pound.

Members of our household and commercial composting programs receive a 25% discount on finished compost.

COVID-19 Updates

Campus Reopening Plan

Environmental Impact

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