Fourteen months after breaking ground, our new location, Dakota Prairie Composting, is opening its gates on August 19 on a limited basis. The new facility will open in phases, starting with commercial wood and yard waste drop-offs only. This will allow us to start stockpiling carboniferous materials, ensuring we will be prepared to start accepting food waste and get the process of making compost started when construction on the composting system is complete. Wood waste, yard waste, and stumps will be accepted from commercial services, while all food waste and all residential drop-offs will remain at the SMSC Organics Recycling Facility for now.
Once fully operational, the new facility will have three times the capacity of the current facility, making it the largest commercial organics recycling facility in the Midwest. Dakota Prairie Composting will have a composting method different than the SMSC Organics Recycling Facility. The new system is an aerated state pile (ASP) method which has many benefits over the current windrow method. Not only will capacity be higher, but the process will be shorter, more efficient, and will control odors better than windrow composting.
Opening the rest of the services—including food waste drop-off, residential drop-off, and product sales—will be rolled out over the course of the next year. The multiple stages of opening are due to the complexity of organics recycling. “All of the organic materials first need to be collected and processed, then composted, cured, screened, and blended to create useful soil amendments and compost blends. Even though we may start accepting materials this fall, it will take time to create the products our customers know and love,” Compost Operations Manager Erin Skelly explains.
Additionally, the large tan hoop building easily recognized from the SMSC Organics Recycling Facility is being disassembled and moved to the Dakota Prairie Composting site. This iconic feature’s move marks a noticeable change as the transition from one location to the next is underway.
We look forward to welcoming the public to an official grand opening in early 2025.
