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 From the Top of the Pile
By: Linda Norris Waldt
Funding for major compost infrastructure development is at last included in a large federal funding bill, The Fertilizer Production Expansion Program.
The US Department of Agriculture has confirmed that compost is eligible for a $500M program aimed at projects that would increase competition and provide farmers more alternatives to conventional fertilizer, such as more climate-friendly projects. Compost and biochar are in the definition of nutrient alternatives. Winning grant proposals can use the funding for equipment, land, facility construction; modernization/expansion; workforce recruitment; labeling/compliance costs, among other things.
This is something USCC has been working towards for years, with our participation in the formation of the Compost Infrastructure Coalition, in which we have worked with several Congressional offices to draft the Compost Act and the Recycling and Composting Accountability Act, along with numerous meetings with USDA and EPA staff to beat the drum about the importance of compost to jobs, economic development, climate goals and ecosystem benefits. YOU have helped us with your advocacy through the Compost Action Center. Nearly 2,000 email contacts have been made with congressional offices, NRCS (part of USDA) staff and EPA staff by YOU, the advocates of compost!
USCC NEWS Your organization’s primary contact should have already received a ballot to fill two compost manufacturer seats and one affiliate position that will be vacant on the USCC Board of Directors for 2022. Nine qualifying nominations have been received for those positions. The nominees are as follows:Affiliate Positions
Jeff Bradley, Nomination Form
Each year, USCC recognizes the best companies and individuals in the compost manufacturing and organics recycling industries. The 2022 Awards will be presented in January 2023 at the Annual Meeting and Conference in Ontario, CA.
Awards are now open for application. You may self-nominate or nominate another person/organization.
Nominate a deserving compost business/ individual/ compost program today!
(*nominations must come from USCC members)
Additional information and nomination forms are available on the USCC Awards webpage.
Members who register for COMPOST2023 before Nov. 1 will receive the best pricing. After Nov. 1, the cost to attend will go up by around $100. If you need help convincing your boss to allow you to attend, consider that we will hear from key speakers on the industry’s most pressing topics, including:
● Meeting the Challenge of SB 1383 Through Operational Excellence and Optimized Process Conditions Tim O'Neill, Engineered Compost Systems, Seattle, WA
● PFAS in Organics and Materials Management Debra Darby, Tetra Tech, Gloucester, MA
● Opening Keynote Speaker: Kara Brewer Boyd Association of American Indian Farmers
Ryan Shearin works for the City of Wilson as a compost facility operator. Ryan has been in the composting field for a little over 2 years and thoroughly enjoys it. Ryan has been wanting to become certified in the industry for some time now and was able to attend the USCC training course at NC State this year. Ryan felt the USCC was a more complex route to his certification, however he was pleased with the course and all the instructors. Ryan would like to say thanks to the USCC, CREF, and the NCCC for the excellent job with the class.
My name is Miguel Nava, I have an undergraduate degree in Agricultural Business from Arkansas Tech University. I’ve worked with Denali in the organic residuals management industry with emphasis on large scale composting since 2014. I was interning at the city of Phoenix ASP Composting Facility and later moved to the New York Tri-State Area where I learned and was directly involved with diverse composting process technologies through Denali’s multiple sites in the region. Now I am serving as the Project Manager in Chicago for the Denali Harbor View Composting Facility.
Want to know more about STA program and its benefits Click here. For STA orientation and enrollment contact STA Program Manager Gowri Sundaram: Gsundaram@compostingcouncil.org ADVOCACY AND PUBLIC POLICY BRIEFS
More than a dozen bills were filed in statehouses last year requiring compostables in some form or another to replace single-use packaging, and all bills had different definitions, standards and descriptions for proper labeling.
This is one of the biggest problems compost manufacturers and collection companies face: uneven labeling across the country. First, lack of consistent labeling opens the door for consumer confusion, and second, it allows for “bad actors”—those who want to pretend they are packaging or producing compostable materials by taking advantage of confusing labeling.
We are working to stop that.
Congratulations, Linda!
STATE CHAPTER NEWS
USCC has state chapters in 14 states, and there are local events and initiatives about composting happening across the country. There may be one in your state! The best way to find out is to follow the State Chapters Bulletin, which comes out monthly. In the Chapters Bulletins, you can also find out the latest about Chapter meetings, changes in leadership and local chapter Organics/Composting summits—with one being held in New Jersey in October, Ohio in November, and in Colorado, Nebraska, and Tennessee over the summer, opportunities to get compost education are plentiful!
YOUNG PROFESSIONALS
MEMBER NEWS
We are thrilled to announce the addition of Chad Angeli to the Rotochopper team as Vice President of Customer Experience.
In this newly created executive role, Chad will lead the sales, marketing, and customer service functions, strengthening the Rotochopper brand and aligning customer touchpoints. As a strategic partner to the CEO, he will develop and implement strategies that lead to continued growth, market development, and profitability.
OPPORTUNITIES, JOBS AND GRANTSDirector of Industry Development
This multifaceted position is a technical business development and project management position, in charge of expanding composting infrastructure, the use of compost and composting best practices. The position will employ project management, industry development, partnership and regulatory monitoring knowledge to achieve this as well as developing the use of compost in agricultural markets in response to federal funding opportunities. The position also oversees the business growth of the USCC’s Seal of Testing Program, focusing on market research and analysis and product development. The position will also contribute a role in the USCC conference of organizing the annual Equipment Demonstration Day. Conducting these projects will require the position to facilitate or lead committees and task forces when appropriate.
Database Assistant
We are in need of a part-time Database Assistant. Built on the Freestone LMS platform from Community Brands, the primary assets of the database are the conference recordings from subject matter experts over the past 3-4 years (around 150 of these), recordings of webinars (10-20), and a few training videos and recorded live classes. New courses for on-demand learning are also being developed. We are looking for a focused database assistant to create and continuously update our coursework database.
The database assistant will work remotely with staff within the organization to create daily/weekly and monthly reports, collect coursework information to enter into the “Compost U” LMS, and create corresponding store product listings in our membership database, YourMembership (YM), also from Community Brands.
CREF NEWS
Diane Hazard will be joining the Compost Research and Education Foundation as its Executive Director starting Oct. 24. Diane has a background in both research and composting. She has served as Director of Education for the Solana Center for Environmental Innovation since 2013. She continues to serve on the Sanford Burnham Prebys Institutional Review Board and Stem Cell Research Oversight Committee. Diane is passionate about composting at all levels. She has a degree in Biology, is a Master Composter, and has a Sustainable Business Practices certification from UCSD. Diane received USCC’s Clark Gregory Award in 2016. She lives in the San Diego, California area. On behalf of the Compost Research and Education Foundation, we welcome Diane!
There are only a few weeks left to enter the ICAW 2023 Poster Contest. The deadline to enter is Nov. 1. Follow the link below to find all the contest details and how to enter.
In September, the newly formed CREF Education Committee reviewed and updated the existing COVID-19 policy for our Compost Operations Training Courses (COTCs). Moving forward, all COTC attendees as well as any onsite staff or instructors are required to follow the guidance of the specific facility where the training will be held in addition to any current CDC guidance. A host facility’s specific guidelines may include vaccinations, mask wearing, social distancing, advance testing, etc. You can review the full policy and upcoming training schedule on our training page: https://compostfoundation.org/Education/COTC IN THE HEADLINESOC Waste & Recycling (OCWR) receives the US Composting Council’s “Seal of Testing Assurance” at Frank R. Bowerman landfill’s Bee Canyon Greenery and Prima Deshecha’s landfill’s Capistrano Greenery. This certification signifies that OCWR’s compost offers the highest standards of compost quality, meeting all federal, state and local regulations and permitting.
By Sam Brasch
Clinton Sander is done with contaminated compost.
On a recent morning, he sifted through long piles of waste from Denver and Boulder at a facility in Keenesburg operated by A1 Organics, the state's largest compost recycler.
Sander, the company's marketing manager, scanned for inorganic objects scattered throughout the heaps of yard waste and food scraps. Common culprits include adhesive fruit stickers and plastic knives, but glass bottles were at the top of his most-wanted list. Each one could break into shards small enough to evade the company's industrial screening machines and make it into the final product: a nutrient-rich soil amendment sold to local gardeners and landscapers.
Upcoming Events
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CAPISTRANO GREENERY has joined the STA program recently. They belong to Orange County Waste and Recycling. OCWR’s model includes upholding the public health & safety to the highest standards and being the leading professionals in the composting world. Naturally, OCWR got wind of the US Composting Council and was enlightened about the STA program. For OCWR, being an STA participant will continue to uphold the public’s view of OCWR’s professionalism. In addition, the program will provide a higher level of confidence that our compost quality remains top notch and amongst the best in the industry. 
Being a voice for composting is not as hard as it sounds! Check out our Advocacy Toolkit on our advocacy web pages. You can learn what’s best to do and wear for virtual public hearings and find letters with talking points on various issues that USCC has supported/opposed. You can even download a Letter to the Editor that you can modify and customize to your own needs, and send it off to your local paper!
Advocacy, Corporate & Chapter Relations Director Linda Norris-Waldt recently traveled to Nashville, TN to accept her Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation at the national conference of the American Association of Society Executives (ASAE). The Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential is the marker of a committed association professional who has demonstrated the wide range of knowledge essential to manage an association in today’s challenging environment and is earned after a required number of years of experience, coursework and passage of a four-hour exam.
Sam Laveson (he/ him /his) graduated from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia with a Bachelor of Science in Geology and a minor in Linguistics in 2020. While there, Sam worked as a sustainability intern with William & Mary's dining services, granting him exposure to composting and organics, and inspiring him to continue in the waste management and circular economy industry. Sam currently works at RoadRunner Recycling, helping get a wide variety of recyclable materials hauled to recyclers. Compost, however, remains Sam's favorite stream, and he is always especially excited to work on compost projects in a professional capacity!
Register today to attend the Young Professionals Quarterly Call on Oct. 26 at 2:00 p.m. ET! The quarterly call is the best time for you to share input on what you would like to hear from the YP Group and connect with other committee members. We appreciate your timely registration to let us know you plan to attend. RSVP by registering .png)
The YP Outreach Committee is happy to announce that we will be partnering with the California State Chapter of the US Composting Council, the Association of Compost Producers, to bring you our Happy Hour next month! As we all know, compost is hot in California. Join us on Nov. 3 at 7:00 p.m. ET. Don’t forget to RSVP by registering on our 
