Charleston County offers free residential compost facility tours May 16

Alli Petrouche, sustainability coordinator at the Charleston County Sustainability and Resilience Department, said, "I'm super excited. We are offering free residential compost facility tours Saturday, May 16th," and detailed how residents can take part.

The tours — scheduled at 9:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. — will run about 45 minutes each and are free but require advance signup on Eventbrite. Petrouche said participants should bring a 5-gallon bucket to take home compost; the county will provide personal protective equipment and asks visitors to wear closed-toe shoes and bring water.

Petrouche explained the Charleston Compost residential program shows "what happens once you put your food scraps" and how food and yard waste are converted into nutrient-rich compost at the industrial facility. She said the county's third-party operator heats and processes material under industrial conditions that allow the facility to accept items typically excluded from backyard composting — including cooked meat, fish and bones, and some dairy products — and that material at the site converts to finished compost in approximately 45 days.

The program operates a network of 25 drop sites across Charleston County. Petrouche named recent additions in North Charleston (Northwoods Community Park and Moss Tree Park) and a College of Charleston location behind the math and science building. Residents must sign up online to obtain a code for locked drop sites; the code works for all 25 locations and the county provides an interactive map showing site photos and local contacts.

Petrouche said contamination at drop sites has been minimal, crediting the locked-site system and ongoing public education. She noted one prior incident, before her oversight, when a lock broke and noncompostable trash was deposited; the county now hosts workshops and posts dos-and-don'ts online to reduce contamination.

The program uses private partners for processing and hauling. Petrouche said the third-party processor (referred to on the program as Miguel) handles the technical processing; the finished product is sold wholesale under the name Bee's Best compost, and Denali is the current hauler after an earlier contractor was acquired.

For residents who want to participate, Petrouche said to search "Charleston Compost" online to find the signup link, choose the nearest drop site and provide name and email for site code distribution and occasional updates. The county will circulate safety guidance and the dos-and-don'ts via confirmation email.

The county did not announce a fee for the tours and emphasized that the program is available to Charleston County residents. For more information or to sign up, Petrouche directed listeners to Charleston County's website and the event listing on Eventbrite.