This International Composting Awareness Week (4-10 May) we're celebrating the powerful sustainable process that has been enriching our campus for 20 years. At the heart of this work is our dedicated Landscape & Conservation (L&C) team, who manage everything from gardening and mowing to transforming green waste into high-quality compost and forest litter mulch at the ANU Soil Yard.
Our composting process begins with L&C gardeners, arborists and movers collecting green waste from across the Acton Campus. These materials include grass clippings, leaves, bark and tree limbs which are stored at our garden depot and processed using a tub grinder. Moisture and cow manure are added, and the compost is turned for aeration and aged for 18-24 months until fully matured. The result is high quality compost used across campus in new gardens, community kitchen gardens, tree plantings and turf maintenance.
See our L&C team in action below as they bring this process to life in the Soil Yard.
Since 2019 the Soil Yard has generated more than 2,800m ³ of compost and forest litter:
- 2019: 400m³
- 2020-2021: 450m³ each year
- 2022: 500m³ of compost and 450m³ of forest litter
- 2023: 600m³ of compost and 500m³ of forest litter
- 2024: 300m³ of compost
This closed-loop process not only diverts organic material from landfill which avoids greenhouse gas emissions but also supports the long-term sustainability and resilience of our campus ecosystems.
While food scraps aren't currently accepted in our Soil Yard, a past trial using a “hot rot” machine showed food scraps were not suitable for our current set up. However, research into future alternatives is ongoing. In the meantime, staff and students can support composting efforts by disposing of waste correctly across campus, especially at our Be Bin Smart Pilot in Marie Reay. Keeping rubbish out of our gardens and landscapes helps ensure our compost remains uncontaminated and of high quality.
Our L&C team’s impact goes beyond composting. They play a vital role in enhancing biodiversity, restoring habitats and caring for the landscapes that make ANU a unique living environment. Learn more about our L&C team’s long-standing commitment to sustainability on our website and view our Q&A composting fact sheet here (PDF, 4.00 MB).