Mike is a registered Professional Engineer with more than 15 years of experience in academics, consulting, and industry.  His primary technical area of expertise is process engineering focused on organic waste management and industrial wastewater management. 

During Mike’s Master’s of Applied Science program, he operated a research scale facility for co-composting of animal mortalities with woodchip amendment providing a detailed understanding of compost process management as well as practical understanding of facility design and operational data collection to support best practices.  He applies his knowledge with GFL to support design of facilities and upgrades as well as adjustment of facility operating practices to achieve compost quality for beneficial use of products while mitigating the risk of odors.
 
Mike says, "I pursued professional certification through the USCC, because I wanted to make sure my technical knowledge was up to date with the latest industry best practices and I wanted a concise way to communicate my expertise to our varied operations teams and customers across North America.”

Last Thursday on Dec. 1, the USCC hosted our first Compost Field Day tour for USDA, EPA, Congressional committees, and offices of Ag Committee staff from both houses and other congressional staff.
 
The day was designed to provide policy staff with an overview of the compost industry—its business model, its scales, and the basics of its systems, and its benefits and challenges. We were able to tour three unique compost options. First we visited a model public private partnership Freestate Farms and the Balls Ford Road Compost Facility. This large-scale operation handles an impressive throughput of organic materials on a relatively small footprint.

Next we visited the USCC's Organics Diversion Program of the Year 2021 Compost Crew. Here we learned about how a small startup community scale compost operation has expanded its market by thousands of subscribers while providing farms like One Acre Farm with a high quality soil amendment.

Finally we visited an innovative local compost operation in downtown DC. At Loop Closing, they replace your dumpsters and trash cans with an on-site composting system and return the finished compost to our soils. We were also happy to be joined by our partners at Biodegradable Products Institute who are always happy to provide context about compostable products.

View More Pictures Here

Thank you for being a part of the Young Professionals Network, whether you’ve joined us at a Happy Hour, attended a webinar, participated in the mentoring program, or joined us at any of our several networking events. Our community continues to grow, and we are proud to serve you and the compost industry

If you want to know where to find us at COMPOST2023, get the latest updates through the YP Slack channel and add our LinkedIn Group to your network.

Thank you to Virginia Composting Council President, Ryan Duckett, for co-hosting the Young Professionals Monthly Happy Hour on Thursday, Dec. 1. Attendees joined an interesting discussion around member engagement, the role of policy in business development, and planning for the future.

The Young Professionals look forward to meeting you in person at our January Happy Hour and Networking Night at COMPOST2023!

On Dec. 14 at 2:00 p.m. ET, CREF is holding a webinar on Addressing Contamination in Food Waste for Composting. Clinton Sander from A1 Organics in Colorado and Kate Kurtz and Becca Fong, from the City of Seattle, will present on the work they have been doing to try to address this increasing problem so many are facing. Contamination is a growing problem nationwide, becoming worse as food waste collections have grown in many cities and towns. During this webinar, you will hear specific details and steps the presenters have taken to address this issue, from public relations campaigns to working closely with haulers. You will learn from these frontline leaders on what they have learned and experienced as they battle contamination in their communities.
 
There is still time to register for this event: https://www.compostingcouncil.org/event/Webinar-Food-Waste-Contamination 

The cost is $19 for USCC Members and $29 for Non-Members.

The two ICAW 2023 contests ended on Nov. 1. For the poster contest, CREF received over 700 entries from 77 countries. Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter and also to those who voted on their favorite entries.  The winner of the 2023 poster contest is Jun Qi Tan. She is an illustrator and storyteller from Singapore, and she is also a regenerative gardener and composter. The beautiful plant at the heart of the ICAW 2023 poster is the ancient grain amaranth, commonly grown in Southeast Asia, tying into the 2023 theme of For Healthier Soil, Healthier Food…Compost!   

The winner of the video contest, which is open to children ages 10-13, is Magna Iacomella Paz from Argentina. She is 11-years-old and said that she has been composting since she was a little girl. Her dad taught her how and why it is important to compost their food waste.

You can learn more about both winners and watch Magna’s video here:  https://compostfoundation.org/ICAW/ICAW-Poster-Contest