Town sells university food waste as compost

The circle of life is keeping the planet healthy and putting a little money back into the town with its composting program.

The compost the town is producing at its composting pad on Dump Road, off U.S. Route 2 — formerly the property of Sandy River Recycling — is some high-test growing material that Town Manager Richard Davis and the town have used themselves, Davis said.

The town is selling the compost to the community for $12 for one tractor bucket or $20 for two.

Davis said the town’s first compost sale on Saturday was a success, moving half the pile and generating $857 for the town.

The next compost sale will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

“A lot of it came from the University of Maine Farmington, from their food service. It’s a combination of residual food waste and cow and horse manure — bedding,” Davis said.

Davis said the manure and bedding were provided by the Farmington Fairgrounds.

The site once was run by the Sandy River Recycling Association, which received a grant to have the pad installed for the composting. Davis said the group ran the site for six or seven years before going out of business in January 2014.