City of Davenport Compost Facility Celebrates 30 Years in Operation

Last month, the City of Davenport, Iowa, celebrated 30 years of operation for its compost facility.

The Davenport compost facility was opened in 1995 and was relatively ahead of the curve in the history of composting infrastructure in the United States. Today, it processes municipal yard waste as well as biosolids from two local wastewater treatment facilities and generates STA-Certified compost. Each year, the Davenport Compost Facility diverts over 1 million pounds of biosolids and yard waste from the landfill, generating over 155,000 cubic yards of screened compost. In its 30 years of operation, it has diverted 5.5 million cubic yards of feedstocks and produced just under 1 million cubic yards of finished compost. They sell about 40,000 bags of potting soil, garden soil, and compost to residents, commercial landscapers, tree nurseries, and farmers each year.

On October 8th, to celebrate the facility’s 30th anniversary, the City of Davenport held an open house where they welcomed community members to tour the facility and learn about the composting process. The open house was successful in connecting the Davenport community to the work that happens in the facility. Robert Bartleson, Compost Division Supervisor at the City of Davenport Public Works, told USCC, “I was surprised that a good portion of the visitors had never been here or heard of our facility; even with 30 years of operation in the same area, there are still new customers to reach!”

 

The Davenport Compost Facility has made a big impact on the City’s sustainability efforts. Before the facility opened, the City predicted that their landfill would reach capacity by 2025; today, thanks to the diversion of organic waste, they are expecting to remain in operation until 2050.
 
Please join us in congratulating the Davenport Compost Facility on 30 years of operation! You can read more about the Davenport facility's anniversary here.