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 From the Top of the Pile
Ten chapter coordinators and more than 50 USCC members are hitting the virtual and real “streets” this month to find co-sponsors for The COMPOST Act, the bicameral bill introduced July 16 proposing more than $2 billion over 10 years for compost facility development of all sizes and recognizing finished compost as a fundable conservation practice for farming.
This certainly didn’t happen overnight! The backstory is that the USCC has worked toward this for years, and more recently with a few core organizations that grew into the Composting Infrastructure Coalition to develop relationships with Capitol Hill congressional staff from Members who are interested in composting, soil health, food scrap diversion and related topics. We tip our hats especially to the Plant Based Products Council, which has shared their lobbying capacity and expertise with all of the organizations and has put real expertise and speed into the process.
USCC NEWS
USCC’s Board of Directors has five seats open for Compost Manufacturer positions for 2021 (no affiliates are open this year).
Consider taking a leadership role in our organization; the board is key to the management and direction of the USCC. They are YOUR representatives within our organization and YOU elect them to office.
After a successful premiere episode of USCC’s “Compost Is Dirty” webinar series this past May, a brand-new episode has been scheduled for September 21 at 2:30pm EST. You won’t want to miss this live, compost-focused conversation with Frank Franciosi, Executive Director of USCC, and Todd Dunderdale, CCP™, Senior Area Sales Manager at Komptech Americas. These two compost professionals will meet online to hold an unscripted, open discussion on a variety of compost industry topics including challenges composters face today and what to look for in the future of commercial composting. Whether you’re a compost novice or a resident expert, roll up your sleeves and get ready to talk compost!
Wes Fitch is the Sustainability Manager for Turn, an organics hauler and processor in North Texas. Wes graduated summa cum laude in Sustainability Science, Organizational Leadership and Business Management from Arizona State University in 2019. He came across Turn during its infancy, shortly after writing a report on waste management practices in the region and highlighting the impact of organics recycling. He has since dedicated himself to creating green infrastructure in his community. Wes is also a LEED Green Associate and GRI Standards certified.
ADVOCACY AND PUBLIC POLICY BRIEFS
The next step to moving forward HR4443, the COMPOST Act which would designate compost/composting as a conservation practice for USDA farm programs and allot $2 billion in funding over 10 years for facilities and programs, is getting co-sponsors—and YOU can help!
We already have 10 chapters (see our state chapters here: www.compostingcouncil.org/statechpaters) working on this project; with a coordinator in each chapter, they are setting up virtual
The American Association of Plant Food Control Officials (AAPFCO) is an organization of state Department of Agriculture (DOA) officials. More specifically, it represents the Control Officials that register and regulate the distribution of fertilizer, soil amendments and liming agents (and sometimes pesticides and animal feed) in each U.S. state, its territories, as well as Canada. The organization creates model laws and regulations to assist interstate commerce of these agricultural and horticultural staples. Its primary goals pertain to consumer protection, by requiring ‘truth in labeling’, and uniform regulation from state to state.
Member Benefits
Members of the USCC can now enroll in a rewards program for advocacy actions. This member benefit is an exciting extension of our expanding advocacy efforts. You can get points for testifying, writing letters, emailing your representatives, posting on social media and more. Just snap a screenshot or picture and upload it to this advocacy reporting form. Once you reach specific point levels we will mail you your rewards.
YOUNG PROFESSIONALS Our Emerging Composter Committee had its strategic planning meeting for the upcoming Emerging Composter Competition to be held at COMPOST2022. Antoine Abou Moussa from Compost Baladi, Committee Chair, along with committee members Claire Dakhlia, from BPI, Xenia Dolovova, from Zero Waste Washington, Patrick Evans, from Food Corps AmeriCorps service, and USCC staff. The whole team is all geared up and all hands on deck for the in-person conference.
The Young Professional Group webinar “Get Cash Not Trash” was rescheduled on July 29th, focused on financial aspects and challenges in setting up green businesses. Thanks to speaker panel Pierce Louis from Dirt Hugger, Monique Figueiredo from Compostable LA, Samantha Graf from Honeycomb Credit, and sponsor Honeycomb Credit. The webinar was led by Felipe Pedrazzi from Faz Verde, the USCC YPG Webinar committee chair.
YP Membership Scholarship 2021-2022:
The YP membership scholarships for this year is closed and the candidates have been chosen. Please join us in welcoming them - Aaron Friedman, David Valez, Eric Shneider, Sashti Balasundaram, Thiago Cacuro. They are excited to be part of the YP committees as they seek to get themselves established in the industry.
YP Happy Hour : Get updates of YP program events by participating in the YP happy hour that happens the first Thursday of every month from 7-8 pm eastern time.
MEMBER NEWS
EDGE Innovate have Introduced their latest trommel offering with the launch of the EDGE TRT620R. The new 620 class trommel will take its place in EDGE’s ever popular trommel line up.
Designed for maximum productivity and superior screening efficiency, the new EDGE TRT620R tracked trommel has a heavy-duty construction design coupled with high manoeuvrability. This ensures that the TRT620R is the perfect screening solution for a wide range of applications including compost, mulch, soil, biomass or construction and demolition waste.
With support from the Town of Stonington, the Southeastern Connecticut Regional Resources Recovery Authority (SCRRRA) began a four-month food waste composting demonstration project at the Stonington Town Transfer Station on July 14, 2021. The environmental consulting and contracting firm SCS Engineers is supporting the project.
Alex Thomas, Field and Special Projects Lead for the Compost Manufacturing Alliance (CMA), and Graduate Research Fellow at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, was just awarded the American Standards and Testing Methods (ASTM) International Graduate Scholarship Award. In his work at Stevens Point and CMA, Alex has been actively involved in ASTM and he chairs the D34 Waste Management Sub-Committee on Treatment, Recovery, and Reuse. He is working with other committee members to develop an ASTM field disintegration testing standard. His $10,000 scholarship will help fund ongoing education and studies related to composting and the important work the ASTM does to set lab standards for a variety of practices and materials.
RFPS AND PROPOSALSPeriod of Contract: From September 20, 2021 Through September 19, 2022, renewable for (4) additional 1-year periods.
Sealed bids will be received until 3:00 p.m. on September 2, 2021 for furnishing the goods/services described herein and then opened in public. No telephoned, faxed, or emailed bids will be considered.
All inquiries for information should be submitted in writing and be directed to: Vidhi Danak at vdanak@albemarle.org. The City of Albany, California (City) is requesting submittal of proposals for
collection of solid waste, recyclable materials, and organic materials; and, provision of related programs and services. HF&H Consultants, LLC is managing the RFP process on behalf of the City of Albany. Paulina Pineda Arizona Republic
Tempe wants to transform a strip of land near the Salt River into a year-round entertainment destination.
The city put out a call to developers Thursday seeking proposals for a sports and entertainment district on city-owned land that would be home to a professional sports franchise.
OPPORTUNITIES, JOBS AND GRANTS
Get your hands on the latest in compost and sustainability jobs - take 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 NEWS
Bring out the artist in you and get ready to enter the ICAW 2022 Poster Contest. The contest starts on September 1 and ends November 1. It is open to anyone age 14 and up from anywhere in the world. Each year, for International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW) in the U.S., a new theme is chosen, and the contest is held to pick a new design for the poster using the theme. The theme for ICAW 2022 is - Recipe for Regeneration: Compost, which should encourage a lot of creative designs to be submitted. The winner receives $500.
One of the key tenets of the Compost Research & Education Foundation (CREF) is educating composting practitioners and the public to advance environmentally and economically sustainable organics recycling. Our current Compost Operations Training Course (COTC) is our flagship course for doing just that, but our educational options are growing. To ensure CREF continues to meet the needs of our industry, a survey will be coming later this month asking USCC members, CREF supporters and training alumni your thoughts and ideas on our existing COTC program, other previous training offerings, and future training initiatives you would like to see, including a host of online offerings - full courses individual trainings, webinars and workshops. Please take a few minutes when your survey arrives to share your experiences and ideas with us so CREF may continue and grow offering you quality training opportunities for you and others throughout our industry.
36 students from nine states and two foreign countries gathered in Lincoln, Nebraska for the first COTC since November of 2019. “We are honored and excited to partner with the Foundation for the return of in-person training,” commented Heather Creevan, Executive Director of the Nebraska Recycling Coalition, one of the USCC’s newest state chapters. She continues, “this was planned for summer of 2020, and we are very grateful to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln for hosting this excellent training.”
As is typical, the class was a mix of large, medium and small scale operations, both public and private, both experienced operators and newbies, which made for great questions and discussions. UNL stepped up by providing nine different feedstocks for the recipe-building activity, a new record!
IN THE HEADLINESIn California it could soon be legal for people to be transformed into soil after death via an alternative funerary option known as human composting.
A bill making its way through the legislature, AB 501, would legalize “natural organic reduction” (NOR), or the composting of human remains, providing a greener choice for Californians. Currently, the only three funerary options are burial, cremation by fire, and cremation by water.
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