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 From the Top of the Pile Thank you for your loyalty and collaboration with your fellow members in the US Composting Council! The US Composting Council is glad to have you as a member. June 30, 2022 is USCC's end date for current memberships. Please remit payment by June 30 to avoid losing access to any member benefits.
The US Composting Council is committed to moving the industry forward in all the areas described below. ADVOCACY: This past year has seen unprecedented expansion of our Advocacy efforts. With the Legislative and Environmental Affairs Committee (LEAC) and Linda Norris-Waldt engaged with federal and state efforts, we have seen progress on the Recycling and Composting Accountability Act designed to increase data collection reporting for our industry. The USCC now has a group of highly engaged Advocate members who compete for prizes and beat the compost drum in their regions. In the coming months the USCC will implement a new grassroots advocacy software, Capitol Canary, to further engage with compost advocates nationwide.
USCC NEWS Contamination happens when contaminants such as plastic, textiles, glass, or other objects don’t decompose entirely during the compost manufacturing process. Join a panel discussion of 4 industry experts as they share their COMPOST2022 presentations on the subject. Leslie Rodgers and Mike Larrivee CCOM from Atlas Organics, Chris Seney from Republic Services, and USCC Secretary Ryan Cooper from Rubicon will be putting their heads together to discuss best practices to deal with one of the biggest challenges that faces the compost industry. Attendees will receive four recordings from this past year's COMPOST2022 in Austin Texas as homework. Come ready to discuss the nitty gritty details on Wednesday June 29 at 1 PM EST.
As part of the ongoing efforts of the USCC to make our programs more inclusive and increase our diversity, the Certification Commission is proud to announce that both the Certification Test and the Practice Test will now be presented in both English and Spanish. Test takers will not have to choose in which language the multiple choice questions will be presented—everyone will see the questions and answer choices in both languages. Thanks to Daniela Ochoa from Regenerative Solutions for providing the translation services.
The Commission has moved the Continuing Education Opportunities listing to its own page. You can find the expanded listings of both remote and in-person opportunities at https://certificationsuscc.org/Staying-Certified/Continuing-Ed-Opportunities
Wayne Mason, Supervisor of the UT Compost Facility, was born and raised in Texas and joined the US Navy at the age of 17. Training and working as a mechanical nuclear engineer on the USS Carl Vinson, he was able to serve for 5 years before being medically retired due to radiation exposure. Venturing into civilian life, Wayne then began work in construction, learning the skills of a stonemason and working a wide variety of heavy equipment. When medical complications lead to him leaving that industry, Wayne sought higher education at the University of Tennessee. Through chance circumstances, he landed a summer job working at what was then known as the “Compost Site,” a place that was ready to be shut down due to years of negligence. Over the course of 3 years, Wayne was able to convert the muddy site into a complete facility with proper roads. He converted his student worker position into a supervisory staff position, hired 6 additional staff members, and secured over $1.7 million in site upgrades and new equipment. Wayne aspires to connect the people of the state of Tennessee to the idea of keeping their waste out of landfills and expanding the composting industry through stricter regulations and connections with local governments.
The USCC’s Annual Conference and Tradeshow is the premier professional meeting for composting, organics recycling, and related topics. This year, the theme is Capturing Carbon, Renewing Soil. With California's SB 1383 now mandating organics collections, we think it's fitting that our conference be in sunny California. With a day of workshops and tours, 2 days of educational sessions and a massive exhibit hall, and a half day devoted to equipment demonstration, you will not want to miss this event. Registration will launch in September and the early bird & member rate will be the most affordable way to attend.
Why speak at COMPOST2023?
The Conference routinely attracts over 1000 attendees working directly in the fields of compost manufacturing and organics recycling. This guarantees the speakers get outstanding professional exposure as well as great networking opportunities. Lead speaker and poster author for each talk/poster receives the discounted speaker rate of 50% off.
Save the Date - Jan. 24-27, 2023
Be a Speaker - Abstracts due by June 30, 2022
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Workgroup Update – Training, Data Collection and Spanish Translation
The USCC’s DEI Workgroup continues to meet monthly in subgroups and as a full committee to pursue its initial goals of baseline training for members and collection of data about member and industry characteristics and needs. 
ADVOCACY AND PUBLIC POLICY BRIEFS
USCC invested this year in a new grassroots software platform, Capitol Canary, to fast-track the increasing number of federal and state calls to action on compost legislation and regulations.
Launched in May, the platform got its first “workout” in June with a current Call to Action on Carbon Soil Code 336 (which is still open-comment until June 16). To date, we have already facilitated the sending of 200 plus support notes to the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service through the platform, to be listed on the Federal Register. (The map shows in green the states where advocates are active; the darker the green, the more advocates).
Carbon Soil Code 336 proposes adding compost and biochar as Conservation Practices for financial assistance for farmers across the country. Including compost application as a qualified NRCS Conservation Practice Standard began in California in 2015 with formal field trials which tracked effects of a half-inch application of compost on rangelands across the state. Following these trials in California, NRCS added compost as Interim Practice 808. This enabled further testing of compost on farm and rangeland and added compost to a number of other Conservation Practices for which farmers and ranchers can apply for federal financial assistance, such as no-till and crop rotation.
STATE CHAPTER NEWS
The meeting will include lunch at noon, a tour of the Vermeer Facility and Museum at 12:30 PM, and the Annual Meeting starting at 2:00 PM. Anyone who is a member of the Iowa Composting Council (IACC), Iowa Recycling Association and/or United States Composting Council is allowed to participate. Future meetings will be for IACC paid members only. Agenda items will include the results of the IACC Director voting, the adoption of the by-laws, summary of the anticipated direction of the organization, and any other business.
When: June 29, 2022 from 12:00 - 4:00 PM
Where: Vermeer Manufacturing - 1710 Vermeer Road East, Pella, IA
Cost: Free, but registration is required
Registration Deadline: June 27 at 4:00 PM
Member Benefits
“We felt it was important to clarify that the hub is a one-stop place for communities to find information to help implement programs, especially with food scrap collection,” said Kellie Kish, Target Organics Committee Co-chair. Dan Aronson, co-chair, added, “the committee will now be widening the focus from municipal programs to other sectors such as colleges, venues, and workplaces.”
YOUNG PROFESSIONALS
The YP Mentoring Committee has welcomed the 2022-2023 cohort of the Mentoring Program early this month. The mentee and mentor pairs will be joining a virtual kick-off call on Tuesday, June 14, where committee members will be answering questions and all participants can connect and network.
As part of the COMPOST2022 conference in Austin, TX, the YP Volunteer Committee successfully completed a project where they built a raised bed garden in collaboration with the Sustainable Food Center (SFC). Our friends at SFC shared a recent picture of the raised beds six months after the groups’ visit in January. We are happy to see the garden utilized for the benefit of the community. The Young Professionals are always happy to support urban gardening efforts. We look forward to joining the Volunteer Committee at their next in-person project during COMPOSTt2023 in Ontario, CA.
We look forward to seeing you there! MEMBER NEWS Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) places fees on compostable packaging, but those funds don't typically go to composters. Italy learned this the hard way and set up a separate Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO). Hear from the Italian compostable PRO (Biorepak) and the Italian Composting Council (CIC) on how this has worked, followed by a panel discussion with counterparts from the US Composting Council and BPI. Could this model work for the US? Have the funds offset costs of processing the compostables for facilities?
OPPORTUNITIES, JOBS AND GRANTS
Get your hands on the latest in compost and sustainability jobs by taking a look at the job postings from our member organizations on our website. Plus, your membership gives you the benefit of posting jobs on our Career Center for free. It's easy, so why not take advantage of it?
How to post a job on the USCC website: Step 1: In your membership account go to Account Settings Step 2: Click Content & Features Step 3: Submit an Opening Have questions? Contact Gowri Sundaram at gsundaram@compostingcouncil.org. CREF NEWSThere are still a few weeks left to submit your research proposal to present at COMPOST2023 during CREF’s Research Track. If you have research you would like to share at the conference, please submit your proposal using the proposal submission link created for researchers, which you can find HERE. On the page, you can find more details on suggested topics for research and information on presenting. Presentation proposals are due June 30.
It may seem like ICAW 2022 just ended but it’s already time to get going on ICAW 2023. We’ll be picking the new theme by the end of June. After the new theme is picked, ICAW 2023 sponsors will be getting onboard and showing their support, and the poster contest will kick-off on September 1, 2022. You can learn more about ICAW HERE. If you are interested in being a 2023 sponsor, contact Beth Simone, bethsimone@compostfoundation.org
Upcoming Events
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The Target Organics Committee has been busy on several projects to augment the impact and content of the online Hub of Resources.
The Young Professional’s Group is happy to offer one-year long USCC Memberships at the Individual Soilbuilder level. Apply today and connect with USCC Young Professionals! Scholarship recipients are expected to pledge one hour per month to support the Young Professionals’ many projects throughout the year as members of a YP Standing Committee. YP committee members organize the mentorship program, webinars, the Emerging Composter Challenge and more.
The USCC Young Professionals hosted a webinar at the end of April under the title "Growing Your Career in the Compost Industry." Komptech Americas, a manufacturer of composting equipment, sponsored the webinar, which featured Todd Dunderdale, senior sales manager at Komptech, Chris Seney, director of organics operations at Republic Services, and Lindsey Hill, VP of human resources at Denali Water Solutions as speakers.
Join us for our upcoming monthly YP Happy Hour on Thursday, July 7 at 7:00 PM (EST). To receive the Zoom invite, please contact 
