Carter-Finley Composts

Carter-Finley Composts

Composting made its debut at the 2014 Kay Yow Spring Game on the concourse of Carter-Finley Stadium. Collections from the concourse bloomed again during the 2015 Spring Game before emerging for each home Pack Football game, beginning in 2015.

Carter-Finley Composts unites with the WE Recycle program to form Zero Waste Wolfpack, a strategic operational and educational program that strives for zero waste within the athletic facilities at NC State University and supported with funding provided by GFL Environmental and Coca-Cola.

Carter-Finley Composts Impact

Food scraps, compostable food packaging, and paper towels are collected for composting during every home football game. Compost collections improve the air quality, soil, food production, and wellness of our Wolfpack community. Nearly 84,000 pounds of materials have collected for composting since 2015.

Collections have expanded (and shrunk) through the years as contracts, vendors, and participating groups have changed. Here are some insights into the data of Carter-Finley Composts:

  • 2015: Compost begins with volunteers on the concourse collected food scraps from fans.
  • 2016: Compost collections from the suites of Vaughn Towers begin and cleaning contracts are updated to have contractors collect pizza & popcorn boxes from the stands post-game.
  • 2017: The height of compost collections as WRR refines operations and Vaughn Towers partners with NC State’s chapter of the Food Recovery Network to rescue and donate uneaten food to local shelters.
  • 2018: A national pizza vendor is replaced with locally-owned food truck operators which removes a major source of compostable material (pizza boxes) from Carter-Finley’s compost stream and results in the post-game stadium clean-up to include recycling and landfill only. On the plus-side: Compost collections expand into concourse restrooms for paper towels!
  • 2019: While compost collections remain steady, compost collected is now processed on campus at the newly opened NC State Compost Facility & Research Cooperative. This allows NC State to close the loop with organic waste management.
  • 2020: Due to COVID-19 and fan/staff restrictions, no collections were made during the season.

Volunteering with the Pack

See Wolfpack students in action at Carter-Finley

Volunteer

  • Sign Up

    • Fill out the volunteer form, ZWW at Carter-Finley
    • Each person must sign up individually
    • Volunteer slots are on a first come, first serve basis
    • Only those selected will receive an email confirming attendance and parking pass info
    • Volunteers do not need to be affiliated with NC State University (students, faculty, and staff are welcome to volunteer with friends and family).
    • Volunteers under the age of 18 must submit a signed waiver from a parent or guardian.
    • Have a group of 15 or more? Please contact us! Recognized NC State organizations can earn $200!

    Volunteer Responsibilities

    • You will be assigned to a zero waste station on the stadium concourse
    • Engage and interact with fans to help them properly sort their waste into the recycling, compost, or landfill bins
    • Keep the compost bins free of contamination
    • Change the bags for full compost bins
    • Volunteers should be prepared to do a lot of standing! (Please let us know ahead of time if you require any special accommodations.)
    • Click here for more information on gameday