Those of you who get recent news from Google News and the various RSS feeds may have come across articles on PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl substances). You may have received phone calls or inquiries on this topic from your customers and your local media.
Do you need videos on compost use to show your customers what they can achieve with your help -videos you can use on your website, Instagram feed, Facebook page or on a loop at your customers’ garden centers? As the Market Development Committee continues to work on new and educational content with our partner Joe Lamp’l of PBS’ "Growing A Greener World," it’s important to step back and look at the modern, high-quality tools our US Composting Council members can already use.
Katharine Wilkinson, author and vice president at Project Drawdown, the organization advancing a groundbreaking approach to climate change that highlights the soils beneath our feet as one of the steps to capturing carbon, headlines the US Composting Council's 2020 conference in Charleston, S.C., next January.
Onnr Grogan was chosen to receive the prestigious North Carolina Composting Council Research Scholarship, a scholarship offered only to undergraduate through PhD students studying in a North Carolina university. The scholarship is funded by a donation to the Composting Council Research and Education Foundation from the NCCC chapter.
Is your business prepared in case of a hurricane or tropical storm season? Check out our new USCC Storm Planning resource to create a plan in case of a natural disaster. On the website, you will find information for compost manufacturers and municipal solid waste planners. Find out how to be ready for any structural damage to the facility and how to help if your employees are caught in the eye of the storm.
This year we’re giving a one-month extension on the STA Certified Compost renewal deadline. The deadline is extended until August 1. We are working to give you more personalized information in each renewal letter this year as a service to you, and it’s taking longer than anticipated to get the letters all sent out.
The USCC is constantly strengthening the STA Certified Compost program. This spring we tightened up the STA Certified Compost and the Compost Consumer Use (CCUP) rules contracts.
 
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Composting legislation and regulation news is in the headlines in North Carolina, Marlyand, Minnesota and Illinois.
A new report by Frontier Group and U.S. PIRG Education Fund urges communities to invest in local composting programs, outlining various environmental, public health, agricultural and climate benefits of organic waste diversion. According to the report, 326 municipalities in the U.S. offer some form of curbside food waste collection. PIRG estimates such programs can reduce the amount of food and yard waste sent to landfills and incinerators by at least 30%.
Solana Center has an on-site composting program for the next wave of early adopters. Known as Food Cycle, the program recently completed its first year, with more than 90 households, organizations, and regional events participating. Food Cycle grew from Solana Center’s expanding work on composting in the San Diego area.
Municipalities large and small grapple with food waste, searching for ways to respond to environmental and economic pressures it causes while having to step up to emerging policies to divert organics. Over time, more dots appear on the map representing government-supported initiatives, including 148 curbside collection and 67 drop-off programs in the U.S. as of November 2017, according to a BioCycle report.
Three seventh graders at Montgomery County, Maryland's Roberto Clemente Middle School formed Team Green Tea to launch a food waste recycling project at area schools. Their efforts were showcased on the national stage this month in the eCYBERMISSION competition.
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Nathan O'Connor from
REOTEMP at COMPOST2019
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You’ve always thought it would be interesting to put your company out in front of the compost industry - but did you know as a member it's nearly 15% less expensive to get a booth at COMPOST2020? A $400 savings just on a 10' x 10' booth alone - and if you need more than the two passes that come with your booth, those are much less expensive than they are for non-members. Members can also order attendee lists at a significantly cheaper rate than non-members, and it gets progressively cheaper the higher your membership level (free for Gold and above; $250 for Silver; $300 for Bronze and lower, $400 for non-members).
Click here for information.
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The New York City Department of Sanitation’s campaign to increase awareness of the city’s organics collection program continues to grow. One of the ads was spotted in the subway recently, and awareness events are happening in neighborhoods around the city.
July 1 is the opening date for the first composting facility to operate in the Cayman Islands, an aerated static pile-method facility projected at 3,000 CY per year. It is operated entirely by Caymanians who are employed through a non-profit foundation serving Caymanian men and women recovering from drug and alcohol addiction; check out the Bridge Foundation's website, as well as that of Beacon Farms for information, or reach out through the USCC Member Portal to Charles “Granger” Haugh of Beacon Farms.
The City of Santa Monica is partnering with non-profit member Global Green to create a Food Waste Prevention and Rescue Program for the city’s businesses. The program is a key step in helping the city meet its goal of 90% waste diversion by 2030 and will ultimately assist the city’s local businesses to prevent wasted food, recycle food scraps and donate excess edible food to those that need it most. For more info, click here or reach out to Matt de la Houssaye through the USCC member portal.
Compost Nashville was founded with the focus of helping people to grow food, not landfills. We do this by providing easy-to-use composting services to the residents and businesses of the greater Nashville area. Our customers earn finished compost throughout the year that they can either use to grow food at home or they can donate their earned compost to a local farm, school garden or community garden. This vital step helps to support our local food economy and creates a closed-loop ecosystem in which Nashville can thrive.
Welcome to all our new members for June!
Chittenden Solid Waste District in Williston, Vt., is looking for its next director of operations. This position will oversee all aspects of CSWD facilities, including CSWD’s drop-off centers, the Organics Diversion Facility and the engineering and maintenance departments.
The Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA) has established the Compost Reimbursement Program, which may reimburse agricultural producers for the cost of purchasing compost.
We are looking for speakers and workshops on a variety of topics for our conference January 28-31, 2020 in Charleston, S.C. Proposed presentations should include information that is relevant to compost manufacturing and related professions. Apply here!
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Aug 2019
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Aug. 5-9, 2019; Ithaca, NY
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11
Aug 2019
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August 11-14, 2019; Rancho Mirage, CA
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26
Aug 2019
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August 26-28, 2019; New Orleans, LA
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9
Sep 2019
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September 9-13, 2019; Raleigh, NC
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23
Sep 2019
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September 23-27, 2019; Monterey, CA
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1
Oct 2019
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October 1, 2019; Bordentown, NJ
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26
Oct 2019
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October 26-27, 2019; Raleigh, NC
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11
Nov 2019
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November 11-15, 2019; Denton, TX
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28
Jan 2020
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January 28-31, 2020; Charleston, SC
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From the Top of the Pile
