USCC’s 20th Annual Conference & Trade Show Another successful event ‘in the books’!

Ronkonkoma, New York – January 30, 2012 – The USCC’s 20th Annual Conference and Trade Show was another huge success. Over 800 composting and organics recycling professionals and more than 100 exhibitors attended the US Composting Council’s 20th Annual Conference and Trade Show in Austin, TX. Hosted by 51 sponsors, the Annual Conference attracted a national and international audience, with representatives from nearly every state and many countries including; Australia, Canada, Columbia, China,  Germany, Mexico, Nigeria, the UK and more!

Among this year’s conference highlights were awards presented for outstanding achievements in the composting industry:

2011 Special Services Award: Jim McNelly. Jim has been involved with organics recycling for over 35 years. He holds 5 compost/organics recycling patents and was the creator and moderator of the USCC list serve for 8 years.

Hi Kellogg Award for Outstanding Service to the Composting Industry: Michele Young. Michele is the Organics Manager for the San Jose, CA Environmental Services Dept. She has been instrumental in organics recycling program development and education for many years, both in CA and throughout the US.

Rufus Chaney Award for Research Excellence: Craig Cogger, Ph.D., Washington State University. Dr. Cogger has been on staff at WSU for 27 years. He has completed numerous research projects and published many papers demonstrating the benefits of compost use.

Composter of the Year Award: McGill Environmental Systems. McGill was founded in 1991 and currently operates 6 facilities in the US and Ireland. They have 3 facilities enrolled in the USCC’s STA Program, including their Delway facility which was a founding participant in 2000. They recycle over 4 million tons of organic feedstocks annually.

The H. Clark Gregory Award: Sustainable Sites Initiative (Lady Bird  Johnson Wildflower Center, ASLA & the US Botanic Garden), accepted by Danielle Pieranunzi, Director. Sustainable Sites has established a rating and certification system for landscapes, similar to LEED for buildings. Compost is an integral part of their guidelines.

Clean Water Award: Barrie Cogburn (TxDOT). Barrie teamed up with TCEQ several years ago to create and implement an innovative compost specification and use program for TxDOT, requiring USCC STA ONLY compost on TxDOT projects. TxDOT is the largest user of compost in the US as a result.

2012 Equipment Demo Day

No USCC conference is complete without our nationally acclaimed equipment ‘demo day’. 2012 was our largest event to date, showcasing 31 pieces of equipment from 23 manufacturers essential to our industry, and drawing hundreds of attendees to the Texas Disposal System’s amazing composting and recycling facility.

The USCC wishes to formally thank TDS for the use of their facility and for all of their support to make 2012 a demo day to remember!

• Grinding and shredding equipmentfrom; Bandit, Continental Biomass, Diamond Z, DoppstadtUS, Dura Tech, Komptech, Morbark, Peterson Pacific, Rotochopper & Vermeer
• Screening equipment from; CEC, DoppstadtUS , Komptech, McCloskey International, Power Screen, Terra Select & Vermeer
• Compost turning equipment from; Backhus,Komptech, Midwest Biosystems, Scarab and Vermeer
• Mixing equipment by Supreme and ROTO-MIX
• Compost Applicationequipment by EcoLawn & Kuhn Knight
• Compost bagging equipment by Rotochopper
• Odor Control Systems by NCM Odor Control