Dominican University of California
OP-T2-23: Landscape Waste Composting

Dominican’s facilities department is composting and mulching the waste from landscaping, including grass trimmings. All leaf debris is blown onto the lawns, and the lawn mower picks up grass clippings and leaf debris, which are then brought to the compost area. If there is no lawn nearby, leaf debris is collected in tarps and brought to the compost area. All grass clippings are either composted or left on the lawn for grass cycling. There is a compost pile system consisting of five piles, with compost at different stages. It takes about 3 months to create a pile, which then gets turned and is used to create a new pile. Another pile grows in its place. When they start to break down, piles move along in this fashion and each gets turned 4-5 times total. Typically, it takes approximately 12-15 months for the compost to be ready to be used in the landscaping on campus. Downed branches and pruning debris are brought to the chip pile, where a tree company hired by Dominican chips the branches to create mulch. The mulch is then distributed throughout campus.