Meet Our Newest Certified Composting Professionals and Compost Operations Managers!

Congratulations to our newest Certified Composting Professionals and Compost Operations Managers!

Elsa Higby

Elsa Higby

Why I Became Certified: 

The USCC has distinguished itself in the arena of standardization for the compost industry. I feel that the certification carries value because of the USCC accomplishments in education, standardization and advocacy. The process was clearly explained, the areas of knowledge to be tested were comprehensive, and the questions on the test were equally comprehensive.

More About Elsa:

Elsa Higby has been working with compost in both community and agricultural settings since 2008. She began in Ohio with an Ohio EPA grant to run the compost campaign with Grow Youngstown. She taught composting classes, gathered stakeholders in the organics waste stream to discuss greater capacity for the region and provided technical advice to backyard and community composters. In addition to this work, she worked with two city councils to pass food policy charters, developed and managed a CSA (Farm to YOU) and the Fairgreen Neighborhood Garden. Her compost education has been provided by the Rodale Institute and Research Farm, PROP, Soil Food Web, the USCC and a lot of experimentation with a wide range of feedstocks. She is the project manager for the New York City Compost Project hosted by Queens Botanical Garden, where she has had the opportunity to collaborate on the design of a new compost facility. Primarily, she and her team collect food scraps, make compost, teach, advise and grow gorgeous veggies!

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Todd Dunderdale

Why I Became Certified:

When the USCC contacted me and asked for my input on the new certification, I felt that I was involved in the development process and would like to get certified. But the main reason was it had been a while since I completed a composting operators training course, and after years of visiting hundreds of composting operations and helping customers, I wanted to refresh my skills. Also, I believe that people in sales get a bad reputation of pretending to know what they are talking about. I believe the certification will separate that stereotype from the salespeople who provide more of a consultation relationship.

More About Todd:

Todd Dunderdale has been a waste professional for 20 years. He is currently senior area sales manager for Komptech Americas in Denver, CO. Todd has delivered over 200 machines to the waste, recycling and composting industry and is often a speaker at waste conferences across North America. He holds a bachelors of science in business administration from California State University, Chico.

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Agustin Ortiz

Agustin Ortiz

Why I Became Certified:

I wanted to further develop myself so that I am able to coach and develop my staff. The USCC Compost Operations Training Course provided by USCC gave me the tools and knowledge required to be a more successful organics manager. 

As organics manager, I am responsible for all composting operations at Recology Blossom Valley Organics - South, which includes the management of day-to-day operations, safety, product quality and participation in the preparation of capital and operating budgets.