{"id":154,"date":"2015-07-16T10:00:45","date_gmt":"2015-07-16T15:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/sustainability\/?page_id=154"},"modified":"2026-04-28T18:19:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T23:19:31","slug":"compost","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/sustainability\/services\/food\/compost\/","title":{"rendered":"Compost"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"size-p-lg\">The mission behind our composting programs is to implement a more sustainable way of handling UWM\u2019s food waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We keep kitchen scraps from entering the traditional waste stream landfill, turn that waste into valuable fertilizer, and help reduce UWM\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions. UWM composts an average of 100,000 pounds per year. We manage two separate streams for compost and four distinct composting methods, contributing to a vibrant and resilient food waste diversion and composting program at UWM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed alignwide is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Composting at UW-Milwaukee\" width=\"1400\" height=\"788\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EPXUO_-jCSM?start=1&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-on-site-composting\">On Site Composting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Our onsite composting program utilizes three distinct methods: a number of static piles, a semi-industrial composting drum, and an &#8220;Earth Cube&#8221; to break down fresh fruit and vegetable scraps, egg shells, and coffee grounds into a finished compost product. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To participate in this on-campus composting option, we offer a voluntary opt-in composting program \u2013 Panther Pails \u2013 which allows the campus community to also contribute their food waste scraps, keeping personal food waste out of the landfill. After a few months of careful monitoring, turning, and important microbe-assistance, the food scraps in our compost systems become nutrient-rich fertilizer that the Office of Sustainability uses on garden plots found all around campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-panther-pails\">Panther Pails<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Panther Pails is our signature, on-campus composting program. Students, faculty, and staff can opt-in to take part. Food waste composted on site at UWM turns into nutrient rich compost, which we use in our campus gardens every year, to grow more fresh produce!&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/forms.office.com\/pages\/responsepage.aspx?id=w3rKC7b8_U6J623pdgPPIUwlAkEdcFtItkfD_MPxsJJUODgwRUE5MVpFR1pER1pYRDZUN1JIM0hRQS4u&amp;route=shorturl\"><u>Register for Panther Pails!<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What to put in your pail:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Coffee grounds (no filter)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Egg shells<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fresh fruit scraps (e.g. apple cores, orange peels, strawberry tops)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fresh vegetable scraps (e.g. carrot peels, broccoli stems)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-on-site-compost-expansion-part-of-feed-mke\">On-Site Compost Expansion &#8211; Part of FEED MKE <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2025, the Office of Sustainability received a $19,705 FEED MKE mini-grant, sponsored by the City of Milwaukee Environmental Collaboration Office. With the grant, UWM is expanding access to Panther Pails compost program, and we added an innovative on-site composting drum. This 450 gallon, semi-industrial compost drum supports faster turnover of on-site composting from about 6-7 months for static piles to as short as 1-2 weeks in the drum. Once fully implemented, UWM&#8217;s composting programs will serve as a community demonstration site featuring four distinct methods and scales of composting: static piles, Earth Cube, compost drum, and off-site hauling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-off-site-composting\">Off-Site Composting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Other forms of food waste like meat, dairy, or after-meal scraps are hauled by our off-campus partner, Compost Crusader. Post-consumer compost is collected from the Sandburg Cafe, Cambridge Commons, and select Grind locations. These food scraps are taken off-site and composted at an industrial scale to produce a nutrient rich compost!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The mission behind our composting programs is to implement a more sustainable way of handling UWM\u2019s food waste. We keep kitchen scraps from entering the traditional waste stream landfill, turn that waste into valuable fertilizer, and help reduce UWM\u2019s greenhouse &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":522,"featured_media":0,"parent":146,"menu_order":56,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"class_list":["post-154","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/522"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154"}],"version-history":[{"count":46,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4141,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/154\/revisions\/4141"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}