Budget Cuts Halt University of Arizona Composting Program

The University of Arizona composting program is another victim of state budget cuts. Before the cuts, funding was set aside for a composting machine to turn grass, leaves, food waste and manure into rich compost to be sold to local businesses and households, as well as solar panels

Originally awarded a $100,000 state grant, plus an extra $25,000 from the university, the program will be on suspension due to the state’s budget crisis. The cut is a part of a likely $6 million budget cut to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), according to The Arizona Daily Star.

The University of Arizona sought to implement a composting program which would have the ability to improve the properties of soils and growing media physically (structurally), chemically (nutritionally) and biologically. Photo: Arizona.edu

But composting isn’t the only environmental program to be cut. ADEQ will not be financing 20 other grants for recycling and waste-reduction programs throughout the state.

“What’s unfortunate is that this project opens up the possibility of adding to a huge new segment of the economy — green jobs,” Lesley Ash, director of sustainability for the Associated Students of the University of Arizona, told The Arizona Daily Star.

“The program would also create a class to teach students how to put together and operate composting machines,” she continued. “Right now, the university has a freeze on hiring positions, but there is a potential to create jobs to run this machine and teach students to operate it.”

Managing a composting system can cut down on organic waste sent to landfills and also support landscaping needs and natural lawn care management.

Although many equate the benefit of compost use to lush, green growth caused by plant-available nitrogen, the real benefits of using compost are long-term and related to its content of living, organic matter.

Universities around the country are beginning to implement composting programs. University of California, Davis, Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, Penn State and University of Michigan are just a few notable universities with successful composting programs.