Carolina Recycled Ag Materials, LLC (CRAM) operates a 12,800 square-foot compost facility, located adjacent to the Universal Leaf North America U.S., Inc. (ULNA) tobacco-processing factory in Nashville, North Carolina. The facility includes 12 bins with forced aeration capabilities and a processing area where raw product is mixed and finished product is screened.

CRAM began operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of ULNA on January 1, 2016. ULNA recognized that it could reduce factory waste and landfill costs by composting the factory's agriculture by-products, rather then sending them to the landfill.

The project has been highly successful, with more than 5,000 tons of material composted annually, and sales continuing to increase. The initiative is benefiting both the community and the environment, as well as offering a high-quality, cost-effective, and environmentally-friendly alternative to other fertilizers currently on the market.

What We Do

CRAM offers a high-quality compost product that provides a cost-effective and environmentally-friendly alternative to commercial fertilizers and animal waste such as poultry litter. Our compost is generated from natural tobacco by-products from Universal Leaf North America’s (ULNA) tobacco-processing factory in Nashville, North Carolina. The dust, grass, stalks, suckers, stem and leaf generated and/or removed during leaf processing at this facility contain valuable plant nutrients, organic matter and trace minerals—all necessary to support agricultural production.

Although tobacco stem and leaf-scrap material are components of our compost, laboratory study results show no presence of nicotine in our product.