A collective compost opened at the end of March 2018. Before that, organic waste produced by the different institutes around Croix du Sud weren't valued. From the greenhouses only, tens of m³ of compostable waste (plants and potting soil) are produced. There is also a large amount of organic waste produced in the different cafetarias around the Croix du Sud square, resulting from lunches, as well as making coffee and tea.
In an effort to gather this substrate, organic waste buckets have been distributed to 20 partners from 5 nearby institutes, as well as to agronomy student in strategic locations (such as the student cafeteria). A description of organic waste that can and cannot be sent to the collective compost is available here in French and English.
Organic waste buchet distributed to volunteer partners
Partners who have received the bucket collect organic waste in their cafeterias and bring them to the composting bins (8 bins, 26m³ in total) located near Croix du Sud, next to the old greenhouses.
Composting bins when they were sanitized by GPEx
The organizers of this collaborative project (Association des chercheurs de l'Earth and Life Institute - ACELI) benefit from a logistic support from students and the university. The "kots à projets" Le Semeur and Kap Vert participate in the daily management of the compost, while the university service in charge of Outdoor Areas management (Gestion du patrimoine - espaces extérieurs - GPEX) offers to transport mature compost to nearby university farms. Some of the mature compost will also be abailable and will be distributed to the partners in this project.
In the coming years, this "pilot" project can be used as an exemple for other compost locations in UCLouvain.