RADFORD -- Radford University has partnered with one of its graduates, Mindy Farley ‘07, to cut down on the amount of food waste that is sent to the landfill by the university. As a chief officer of Poplar Manor Enterprises, LLC (PME Compost), Farley and her husband, Calin, have established the Floyd-based business designed to pick up food and organic waste and convert it into compost. PME Compost is the second of only two Solid Waste Compost Facilities to collect food waste certified by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in Virginia.  The business is the first of the two Compost Facilities to operate a Food Waste Collection Service.

As a Category III Compost Facility, PME Compost accepts anything from untreated wood waste and leaves to pre- and post-consumer food waste. PME Compost currently has a site capacity of 1,125 tons per year of incoming organic material. Eventually, PME Compost will increase the amount of tonnage per year as the business grows. The organic material collected takes approximately six to nine months before it is considered compost.

In addition to a partnership with RU, PME Compost is working with Virginia Tech Dining Services and accepts leaves from the Town of Christiansburg. They are working to expand business to restaurants and grocery stores in the New River Valley. “We are very excited to be working with RU, being that I am a graduate,” said Farley. “Our mission is to help decrease the amount of organic materials that go into our landfills and provide a beneficial service and product to our customers.”