Cherokee Indians' Premier Food Waste Compost

Type of practice Recycle

Name of practice Cherokee Indians' Premier Food Waste Compost

Name of main actor Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians, North Carolina

Type of actor(s) Farmers

Location United States of America

Stage of implementation End-of-life

Year of implementation 1997

What was/is being done? The Cherokee run two successful large-scale composting operations—one for food scraps and one for biosolids—at the Qualla Boundary in North Carolina. The Cherokee began composting biosolids from its wastewater treatment plant in 1995 and expanded its operations to collect food residuals in 1997. The tribe’s food residuals composting program begins at the restaurants, where restaurant employees manually separate kitchen wastes and remove contaminants such as plastic and glass materials. Tribal utilities employees collect the food wastes as many as two or three times per day and transport them to the tribe’s waste transfer station and weigh them. They then mix the food residuals with wood chips and sawdust—derived from chipping community members’ yard trimmings in a Duratech tub grinder—as well as shredded waste paper from tribal office buildings. The piles are turned once on the first day, then three to four times per day for the remainder of the windrow process. After approximately four weeks in the windrows, the new compost is transferred to a covered storage area for curing and screening. To encourage tribal members to garden, the tribe has given away free or discounted compost. The tribe’s extension office recently worked with the Chief to provide community members with coupons for compost to promote gardening.

Outcomes and impacts In addition to reducing waste and generating a valuable soil amendment, composting contributes to the revival of traditions and the preservation of cultural knowledge. Today, the tribe composts approximately 72 tons of food waste and 96 dry tons of biosolids per month. The food waste, collected from seven local restaurants, sells for $35 per ton, while the biosolids compost garners $15 per ton.

Documents  COMPOSTING OPERATIONS AT CHEROKEE TRIBE.pdf
 Waste Reduction Tips for Hotels and Casinos in Indian Country.pdf