Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Holds Grand Opening of Dakota Prairie Composting

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) celebrated the grand opening of its new organics recycling facility, USCC Member Dakota Prairie Composting, in Louisville Township on June 24th. The former site of the SMSC’s composting operation opened in 2011, and the process of acquiring and opening the new site has been unfolding for the last few years. Dakota Prairie Composting will process more than double the amount of the SMSC’s former organics recycling facility, recycling 155,500 tons of wood and yard waste and diverting an additional 25,000 tons of food scraps per year from local landfills—a reduction of 21,000 metric tons of carbon per year. Dakota Prairie Composting is a USCC Seal of Testing Assurance (STA) Certified compost facility.
 
This facility will help Minnesota reach its goal of recycling 75% of the state’s waste by 2030 while protecting and enhancing the environment for current and future generations. It is located on 93 acres near the intersection of highways 169 and 41 in Louisville Township, just outside of Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota. The facility has the permitted capacity to expand in the future, with the ultimate goal of processing 212,500 tons including 35,000 tons of food scraps through composting annually.
 
Drawing on several years of research and site visits across North America, the new facility’s design incorporates state-of-the-art technology. Dakota Prairie Composting utilizes an ECS-designed 18-zone reversing covered aerated static pile (CASP) system to compost materials efficiently and effectively with minimal odor. An advanced stormwater reclamation system, funded by a federal 2023 Community Project Funding appropriation, allows for water reuse and containment, protecting area surface and groundwater, and was also constructed for the facility.
 
Photo credits to Dakota Prairie Composting.